


Hand of Sorrow

by KHLostEmpress



Series: Modern Fantasy Tale [1]
Category: Cardcaptor Sakura
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-14
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2018-12-15 09:29:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 45,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11803248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KHLostEmpress/pseuds/KHLostEmpress
Summary: Modern Fantasy Tale: There are 40 Clows, guardian spirits people can be born with. To save her kidnapped father, Sakura offers herself in exchange and is given to Wolf, a man who is possessed by the most terrifying Clow of all. Beauty and the Beast





	1. Loss, Sacrifice, and Hope

**Author's Note:**

> A Modern Fantasy Tale based on Beauty and the Beast.  
> In advance, I have to tell you that some names and relationships have been changed slightly for the sake of the story. Also, I'm only using the Clow Cards that I think would work for how I've portrayed them.

It wasn't Ruby's first time using her father's Clow, **Fly**. In the past few weeks, her father, Eriol Reed, Head of the Clan, had made her and her mother, Kaho, practice using it often. Sometimes it was for hours on end so that they would be ready for this mission. Ruby couldn't exactly say she was completely okay with the whole idea of what they were about to do. Their target was a little kid, but her father said they had to do it now, before he grew more proficient at using his Clows. And as he was the Head of the Clan, she was bound to do what he said as a Reed herself.

The night was quiet around them as it was late but not quite midnight. Her parents knew it was unlikely they would find the Li estate completely asleep at any time, day or night. Ruby was aware of this. The animosity between the three Clow families ran too deep for them to be any kind of vulnerable. Especially between the Reed Clan and the Li Dynasty, as the Amamiya Family tended to be the most neutral.

Yet, the only sound Ruby could hear was the swooshing beat of their wings. They flew close enough together that they could see one another. But the three of them remained far enough apart so that they wouldn't run into each other mid-flight. It had been a long journey here, almost halfway around the world. True, they flew on a plane for the larger part of the trip; they were only using Eriol's Clow for the last leg of it. They had a good plan of infiltration, despite the unknowns. Ruby hoped they would be too grief-stricken to follow them. Their escape had always been the biggest flaw. But her father had insisted that the reward would be worth the risk.

The large estate of the Li Dynasty came into view. Ruby descended down to the ground inside the walls alongside her parents. They hoped they were far enough away from the manor house not to be noticed. As soon as they had their footing, the wings disappeared in what appeared to be white whirls of wind. The white whirls gathered on Eriol's right shoulder, forming into a small being. Ruby knew that her father had recalled his Clow back into its original form.

In this form, **Fly** was a small white bird with a long neck like a swan and long feathers sticking out of the top of its head. Its eyes were completely blue, and its beak was short and sharp. Ruby knew that the bird could grow large enough to ride on if Eriol wished it. A moment later, the bird disappeared, returning to the nether space where Clows wait.

Ruby looked up at her father and took a minute to study him. He was a tall man with blue-black hair. Rounded square glasses covered his determined blue-grey eyes. There was a tight set to his jaw that revealed the emotions he wrapped tight within himself. Still, Ruby couldn't even begin to tell exactly what those emotions were. Her mother had her worry and distress displayed in her light brown eyes and the tight set of her lips. She trailed an uneasy hand through her auburn hair. It was a color that Ruby almost inherited herself but far browner than her mother. Ruby did have the same brown eyes as well, if a few shades darker.

"Eriol, are you sure that we should do this?" Kaho questioned him again. She glanced up at the house before returning her gaze to her husband.

Ruby looked back and forth between her parents, remaining silent. After all, she had some misgivings about the mission herself. Kaho and Ruby both watched Eriol as they waited for his answer. Finally, her father nodded, the tenseness in his jaw releasing as he spoke. "They'll use him against us," Eriol stated. "You know they've been waiting for a chance like this for centuries, Kaho."

Kaho hesitated for another second before she nodded. Sadness and regret filled her eyes, but Ruby didn't know whether she directed them at the mission or Eriol. "I doubt Yelan will be affected for very long," Kaho reminded them, as she had countless times before. "You'll only have minutes to do it."

Eriol and Ruby nodded; Ruby’s a little more apprehensive than her father. Yelan Li was a powerful Clow holder. It was possible she was more powerful than any of them except for Eriol. Those with more magical power than you were harder to affect with your Clow, especially one of Kaho's type. Their plan relied on Kaho's Clow working for at least some time against Yelan and the rest of the house.

Eriol closed his eyes and a tiny woman, no bigger than the length of his hand, appeared in front of him. She had on a long flowing gown with long wide sleeves and a slit on one side of her skirt all the way up to her hips. A large oval blue jewel was imbedded on the center of her forehead, and she had large round earrings in her lobes. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail almost on the top of her head with two circles above the tie and one single long thin tail that went all the way down to her feet. In her hand, she held a paper-thin silvery black disk. Ruby knew that it was another one of her father's Clows, **Through**.

A moment later, another Clow appeared, this time in front of Kaho. It was a small old man, covered in a cloak, except for his face which had a long-crooked nose at the very center of it. His ears ended in long thin points that went well past the edges of his hood. On his forehead were brown markings. Floating about his hands was an hourglass, full of tumbling sand. It was her mother's Clow, **Time** , which she didn't often call out because of the vast magical power it consumed when used. All Clows took a physical and magical toll on their users—some more than others. How much time and rest it took to recover depended on the amount of magical energy used. Her mother could be in recovery for a week if she used **Time** for as long as she could.

"Come along, Ruby," Eriol said as he grabbed her hand, and they began running to the house.

Behind them, she heard her mother call out, " **Time**!" Except for a rare few, a Clow's power could not be activated without first calling out their name. Once their name was called, the Clow would be able to perceive its master's will without being told.

Around Eriol and Ruby, the world took on a golden cast as everything froze around them thanks to the power of **Time**. If they were lucky, they would be the only ones unaffected by the Clow, as per Kaho's will. The two of them reached the walls of the house and didn't stop running. They walked right through them, thanks to the power of Eriol's Clow, which he activated by calling its name. Nothing stood in their way as they ran past the frozen people inside the house.

They found the room they were looking for, which held only one small sleeping occupant. Ruby and Eriol approached the side of the bed. "Oh, Father, he's so cute and adorable," Ruby bubbled, giving her first impression of the four-year-old Syaoran Li.

"Ruby, that's not important," Eriol admonished, but Ruby could hear the amused cord in his tone.

"Sorry, Father," Ruby said not quite repentant. When they heard the rustling of the bed sheets, they both turned their gaze back to the boy in the bed. Ruby's eyes widened in surprise. "Father, he's not frozen," Ruby said completely shocked as the boy sat up, rubbing his eyes. She might have worried that her mother's magic had worn out, but the world around them was still silent and golden. Ruby didn't know how it was possible that he would have been completely unaffected by **Time**.

Syaoran seemed to wake up a little more as his hand fell, and his expression turned hard when he looked at the two of them. "Who are you?" the little boy demanded standing up on his bed. Ruby was again surprised, this time by the authority and confidence in that young voice. "You don't belong here."

Before Ruby's eyes, two Clows appeared next to the boy. Both Clows were small beautiful regal women with stares like ice. One of the women was almost completely white with long glorious curling hair. A tall crown circled her white locks. Her dress had a dipping neckline that trailed down to her stomach with black along its lines. The gown broke up off her shoulders and surrounded her neck like a crown. On her chest, beneath her neck, there was a jewel that appeared to look like a golden sunburst. In one hand, she held a glowing sun, while the other held a living cloud.

The other woman was the first's polar opposite as she was almost completely black. Her dress cut in the exact same as the white woman's, except that it was black with white lines along its edges. Around her neck was a ring of silvery black jewels. Her hair was long and straight with a color as black as midnight. The same white crown adorned her head, giving a stark contrast to her ebony hair. In one hand, she held a radiant crescent moon and the other held a bright star.

Ruby knew that these two women were the Attribute Clows **Light** and **Dark** , two of the most powerful Clows in existence. Only the Elemental Clows— **Windy** , **Watery** , **Firey** , and **Earthy** —rivaled their power. The amount of people who had partnered with the Attributes could be counted on one hand. This was in part due to the amount of raw magical power needed to support even one of them. They were the only Clows that had to be partnered to one person at the same time. That was the other reason that so few had possessed them. **Light** and **Dark** could not be separated from each other—it was impossible. The fact that they were Syaoran's Clows gave a sign of how much power the little boy had.

And that was the very reason Ruby and Eriol were standing in his room now. Ruby knew that her father feared that one day the Li Dynasty would use Syaoran against them. He could not let that happen to their family. No matter what the cost was to be.

Eriol chuckled low in his throat as he reached into his pocket. "Do it now, Ruby," he ordered. He closed the distance between himself and the boy. Before Syaoran had the chance to call out his Clows' names and activate them.

"All right, Father," Ruby answered. The tiniest bit of reluctance held her as she called out her own Clow to complete her own part in this mission.

* * *

 

Yelan Li glanced around her off balance. The world had a golden sheen to it, and her husband stood frozen in front of her mid-sentence. She devised in a moment that someone must by using the Clow **Time.** But she hadn't even known anyone partnered that Clow. Yelan had no way of even knowing if she herself had been frozen or how long it had stopped her if it had. She knew she had to have more magical power than the person using it. That was the only way she wouldn't be under the influence of the Clow at the moment.

She wondered what they could be after. The house held many priceless artifacts, but none that held much worth to Yelan. The Clows they possessed were the true treasures of the Li Dynasty, and those could not be stolen by any means.

The dream her Clow had bestowed the night before came back with startling clarity. Though it was the only Clow that could use its power without the will of its partner and one of the few whose power could be used without calling out its name, **Dream** didn't often take the initiative, except when someone close to Yelan was in danger. Yelan had been worried all day, trying to figure out what it meant and who was in danger. Now, she was afraid that she had figured it out.

The strange warped color to the world faded, and her husband began talking again. But Yelan didn't hear him. She pushed past him, hiking the skirt of her kimono up to her knees as she started to run. Her husband called out her name, but she didn't stop, wishing she had her sister's Clow **Dash**.

She startled servants as she passed them, most of them never having seen her run before. Wei called out, "Lady Yelan!" But still she did not stop, hoping she would be time. She _had_ to be on time. She could hear his quick steps behind her and was thankful for it. She could trust Wei.

Yelan finally reached her destination and came to a halt. Her hand was trembling as it reached for the handle. She hoped she would find him sleeping inside, as she had left him a few hours ago. She opened the door and let out a piercing cry at what met her eyes.

Her Syaoran, her little baby boy, lay lifeless on the ground. His amber eyes gave the appearance of being made of glass as they seemed to be staring into nothing.

Yelan walked over and kneeled next to him, reaching out her shaking hand to close his eyes. She heard Wei's voice, full of compassion and sorrow, behind her say, "Oh, Lady Yelan…"

She reached out her arms and gathered the small boy in them. She pulled him close as silent tears trailed down her cheeks.

* * *

 

Nadeshiko Kinomoto hummed in the garden as she worked in it. Her Clow **Flower** hovered around her, using her power when a plant needed a little help. **Flower** was a fun-loving gentle Clow with white hair in two corkscrew pigtails. She wore a long pink ball gown dress with flower bracelets and earrings. On her forehead and chest were pink flower-patterned symbols. **Flower** was as enthusiastic as Nadeshiko in the garden.

Nadeshiko looked up from her garden. Her quiet nonsensical song stopped as she found herself looking at her usually bright and energetic daughter. Sakura sat on the lawn, staring out across the road without a peep. The cherry blossoms on the trees in the streets were beautiful to look at. But usually Sakura would be running around under the falling petals.

Worried, Nadeshiko dismissed **Flower** as she walked over to her daughter. As she got closer, she noticed one of Sakura's Clows, **Windy** , hovering over one shoulder. **Windy** had long elegant yellow hair with a large green wing-like pattern flowing out from the center of her forehead. She had golden wings hanging from her shoulders. **Windy** was one of the mildest and gentlest Clows, despite being one of the most powerful. She was easy for Sakura to control even at her young age. But the fact that Sakura had her Clow out at all gave Nadeshiko a wary feeling that all was not well. Sakura rarely called out her Clows.

"Sakura," she coaxed as she kneeled down next to her.

Sakura's smile was quick and cheerful as she turned her emerald gaze to her mother. "Good morning, Mommy!"

She was so much like her usual self that Nadeshiko almost pushed away the feeling that something was wrong. Still, she pressed on as she trailed her fingers through Sakura's light brown hair. "Is everything all right, dear? Has Toya been teasing you again?"

Sakura giggled. "No, Mommy," she said. "I'm okay, but I think something bad happened somewhere else. Somewhere far away. I dreamed about it last night," she finished as her gaze took on a glazed look as she stared back out at the cherry trees.

Nadeshiko was not surprised to know that her daughter had sensed something that happened to someone far away. Clow Bearers with powerful magic, like Sakura, could feel things about those they were connected to, such as family. Nadeshiko began to worry about her family. She hadn't had contact with them since she ran away with Fujitaka over a decade ago. Masaki Amamiya—her father—and Sonomi—her sister—hadn't approved of the marriage. But she had been so in love with him that in the moment she hadn't cared. Her father had made it very clear that she would not be welcomed back if she returned.

Then again, Sakura could have sensed something that had happened to Fujitaka's family. Nadeshiko didn't know them at all because she had never seen them and Fujitaka did not talk about them. Her husband had left his family a long time ago, but they were still family and connected to Sakura by those ties.

"Do you think there's something I could do to help?" Sakura asked.

Nadeshiko smiled at her as she said, "I think that as long as you are yourself, everything will be all right." She finished by tapping the tip of Sakura's nose in affection, which caused the little girl to collapse in giggles.

The young girl then ran down the lawn, flung out her arms, and called, " **Windy**!" The tiny fairy woman flew out into the trees, causing the pink petals to fall around her with a gentle wind. Sakura twirled and laughed around in the pink rain. Nadeshiko watched her daughter with a content smile on her face.


	2. The Three Families

_Seventeen years later…_

Sakura Kinomoto hustled into her grandfather's house, dripping wet. She muttered under her breath about the universe was out to get her that night. "Miss Sakura," a voice called out. Sakura turned to see Rika Sasaki, a taller woman with short brown hair that curled at the end around her cheeks. Rika was the only Clow Bearer not related by blood in the Amamiya Family household. As he always did, Yoshiyuki Terada followed behind her. Yoshiyuki was Rika's fiancé, despite the age difference between them. "Can I get you a towel or anything, Miss Sakura?" Rika asked with a gentle smile.

"Please, Rika, call me Sakura," Sakura said to her.

"Yes, Miss Sakura," Rika replied, as Sakura knew she would. It was her reply every time she had ever asked Rika to call her by her first name. Sakura had been trying for almost four years, since Rika joined the Amamiya household. At least she had gotten Rika to stop calling her "Miss Kinomoto" about a year ago. "Can I get you anything?" Rika asked.

"I think I can manage, but thank you, Rika," Sakura said and then she concentrated for a moment. One of her Clows, **Firey** , appeared in front of her. Child-like in appearance, **Firey** had long pointed ears and hair made of fire. A headband rested around its forehead with a large red jewel in the center. It had orange wings that looked an angel's and the bottom half of its body was covered with fire. **Firey** had a rather temperamental and mischievous nature. Since it had a fierce rivalry with **Watery,** Sakura usually made sure never to call both of them out at the same time. Concentrating on drying herself off, she called out the Clow's name to activate its powers.

With an impish grin, **Firey** turned into flames and flew around her in circles. About half a minute later, Sakura was dry—though her clothes were a little steamy. Thinking she should use **Windy** too next time she needed to use **Firey** like this, she said to the Clow, "Thank you." **Firey** gave her a bright smile before disappearing.

"Sakura!"

Looking up in the direction of the voice, Sakura smiled as she saw her cousin and best friend, Tomoyo Amamiya. Her friend descended down the stairs with a certain grace Sakura could never manage. Tomoyo was a little shorter than Sakura, but her long black tresses fell well past her waist. Which was unlike Sakura's brown hair which was only long enough to pull back into a ponytail. Her skin was porcelain pale, and she possessed impossible violet eyes. Sakura was quite sure that she would never have the same beauty and grace that Tomoyo was born with.

The two girls met when Tomoyo had moved to Tomoeda, the town where Sakura grew up, when they were eleven. They had ended up in the same class and had hit it off, being near inseparable from that day forward. One day, Sakura brought Tomoyo home and introduced her to her mother, Nadeshiko. Nadeshiko recognized Tomoyo's surname as her own maiden name. In a small leap of logic, she realized that Tomoyo was the daughter of her own older sister, Sonomi. Sakura and Tomoyo had been completely delighted to discover they were actually cousins. To them, it was one small step from being sisters. Through Tomoyo, Nadeshiko had reconnected with her sister. Eventually, she was welcomed back by her father. Masaki Amamiya had come to regret his actions of disowning Nadeshiko in anger. He admitted that he lost out on the chance to get to know his other two grandchildren.

"Tomoyo! See you later, Rika," she said to the girl beside her before she raced to Tomoyo, where they embraced each other in a hug. Sakura pulled back from Tomoyo and asked, "How is she doing?"

Tomoyo looked grieved as she took Sakura's hand and led her up the stairs. "I left **Song** with her while I came down to greet you," Tomoyo answered. They walked down the hallway once they reached the top of the stairs. "The music seems to soothe her and **Song** can keep singing for far longer than I can." Coming closer to the end of the hall, Sakura heard the unmistakable cadence of Tomoyo's voice coming from inside a room. That was the power of Tomoyo's Clow. It could copy any voice and sing any song with it.

They opened the door and entered the bedroom on the other side. Nadeshiko was sitting in a chair by the window, staring out into the scenery beyond. Sonomi stood behind her, sliding a brush through Nadeshiko's hair. Other than their eye color, Nadeshiko and Tomoyo looked very much alike. Sonomi, unlike her sister and daughter, had short reddish-brown hair and dark blue eyes. Above Nadeshiko hovered Tomoyo's Clow **Song.** The Clow looked like a young woman with long purple hair. A blue headdress went over her ears in the shape of the treble clef. Her dress was long and narrow, flaring out at the bottom, and looked like a violin down the front. Tomoyo must have recalled **Song** when they walked in as the Clow gave a small bow and disappeared.

Sakura ran over to her mother and enveloped her in a hug. Nadeshiko's grip was very tight as she returned the gesture. "I never should have let him return to England," Nadeshiko whispered in Sakura's ear.

"Return to England?" Sakura asked as she pulled away a bit. She knew that her father, Fujitaka Kinomoto, had disappeared on his trip there. Tomoyo had said as much when she called Sakura this morning. But she didn't know that her father had ever been there before. Nadeshiko looked back at Sonomi and Sakura thought they looked rather worried. No, more like anxious, as if they thought too much had been said. Sakura glanced over at Tomoyo. She conveyed her own confusion with a minor lift of her shoulders and a small shake of her head. Not wanting to put any more pressure on her mother, Sakura instead asked, "Has Toya arrived yet?"

Sakura knew that Tomoyo understood through the slight upturn of the corner of her lips. "I called him after I finished talking to you," Tomoyo said. Her tone of voice didn't reveal for a second that she was part of a subterfuge. "He has farther to travel than you did, but he said he would come as fast as he could. There was something that he had to do that he couldn't leave to **Mirror** before he came. I imagine that he should be here soon."

"Girls," Sonomi interjected and Sakura looked at her aunt, who was setting down the brush on the table near her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tomoyo do the same. There was a knowing, exasperated, and irritated look on her face. "You don't have to do that. We don't mind telling you about it, only…"

"We never thought we would have to," Nadeshiko finished. Heartbreaking sadness still etched across her face. "I don't even know the whole story."

"Then I should be the one to tell them."

Sakura glanced over at the door where a sturdy older man with graying brown hair and somewhat sad dark eyes. "Grandfather!" Sakura greeted him with a wide smile. Masaki Amamiya returned her smile with a small one of his own. He came more into the room and sat in the only empty chair with a heavy sigh. Tomoyo and Sakura exchanged a glance before both of them went to sit together on the edge of the bed.

Masaki rubbed a hand down his face before he began to speak. "I've told you before about the three families of Clow Bearers, yes," he asked them. Both Sakura and Tomoyo nodded. Masaki continued to speak. "About thirty years ago, I was approached by a young man, a Clow Bearer, seeking sanctuary from his family. Despite the fact that I felt some uncertainties about it, I accepted him into my household. Sakura, it was your father, Fujitaka Kinomoto, or I should say, Fujitaka Reed. That was his real name before he changed it."

"Reed?" Sakura repeated shocked.

"You mean, as in the Reed Clan?" Tomoyo added after a sharp gasp.

Masaki nodded with a solemn frown and his shoulders slumped. "The Reed Clan acts like a vigilante group in England. They use their own discretion against crime factions. Unlike our family, the Reed Clan uses their Clows to do their work. Most have no defense against their magic. And, even though what they do is illegal, their government tends to turn a blind eye to it. Even though they do not know about the Clows, they know that the Clan brings in criminals. Fujitaka was feeling apprehensive about some of the decisions his twin brother. So, he decided to leave the Clan for good. Knowing he couldn't seek refuge among the Li Dynasty, he found us here and asked for my help. He knew his brother would be angry at his leaving and sought further to hid himself by changing his last name."

Silence fell after Masaki finished the story. "It was because of his past that Father and I were against his marriage to Nadeshiko," Sonomi said. "We thought…well, we assumed that he was still a Reed and would always be a Reed. We thought he would put Nadeshiko in danger by entwining her life into his own. But after all these years without anything happening, I thought we were safe from the Reed Clan's retribution. I had begun to regret letting Nadeshiko run away from us with him."

"So, you think that someone from the Reed Clan recognized him while he was in England and kidnapped him?" Tomoyo asked. It was the question on the tip of Sakura's tongue. Her mind was reeling too much trying to process all the information to actually ask it.

"It seems the likely situation," Masaki said after a moment of thought. "It would be too much of a coincidence for him to disappear in England without the Reed Clan being involved. There are a few ways to be sure."

Sakura jumped up as she grasped onto his words. "But, there is a way, right? How can we find out what's happened?"

Masaki turned his gaze away for a moment as an apprehensive silence fell around the room. After a few seconds, he first looked at Nadeshiko and Sonomi before looking back at Sakura and Tomoyo. When he spoke, it was in a slow manner as if he was unsure that he should be saying anything at all. "Of the forty Clows, there are only two Clows that allow someone to see things that they normally would not be able to. And both are currently partnered to the same person."

"Father," Sonomi snapped. "You cannot be suggesting that she go there. It would be completely foolish, not to mention dangerous. They haven't ever been welcome to visitors, but they've been particularly ruthless since the tragedy."

"Maybe you are right," Masaki said, nodding and falling silent once more.

Sakura glanced back and forth between the two of them. Sonomi looked livid, but also apprehensive. Nadeshiko, sitting in the chair beside her, still looked crestfallen. But she seemed to be sharing in Sakura's confusion in the depth of her features. Masaki, on the other hand, looked somewhat defeated. Sakura looked over at Tomoyo, who gave a small shake of her head, revealing that she didn't know either. Sakura came to a decision and got to her feet. "I don't care," she said to no one in particular, not knowing who she was addressing. "If it's something that can help Dad, then I want to know about it. And I have my Clows to protect me, if it does turn out to be dangerous."

After a few more seconds of silence, Masaki finally spoke again. "She's not an unreasonable woman, Sonomi. Our families have had friendships in the past. I would not tell Sakura if I thought she would come to harm there."

Sonomi made a dismissing sound as she turned her head away. "If you're sure, Father," was her only reply. "But if she goes, I'm sending Rika and Terada with her."

Masaki nodded once, but once again fell silent. This time it was Tomoyo who spoke next as she asked, "Who exactly are you talking about?"

"The woman we need is Yelan Li," Masaki answered. Sakura's eyes widened in surprise when she heard that name. She'd never actually met any members of the Li Dynasty. They were the most exclusive and secretive of the three Clow Bearer families. Tomoyo told her that she'd heard that Yelan Li had always been as a strict and stern woman. However, after a tragedy in the family, she'd become cold and shut out the world in her grief. Sakura couldn't blame her after she heard what happened. The last of Yelan's children, a small boy, had died unexpectedly when he was young. The two families had been on almost friendly speaking terms before the incident. Tomoyo confided that Masaki hoped that a reconnection could still occur someday.

But her father was in danger and needed her help. Sakura wasn't going to let one woman—powerful Clow Bearer or not—stand in her way. "I'll go speak to her," she said determined.

Nadeshiko got to her feet and walked over to her. She took Sakura's hands into her own as she said, "Are you sure, Sakura? Fujitaka would not have wanted to put yourself in danger for him. I know you have powerful Clows of your own, but... I don't want to lose you, too."

Sakura nodded. "She'll help us, Mom," she said with a certainty. "I know it. Everything will be all right, you'll see."

Nadeshiko looked into her eyes and dipped her head in acquiesce. "Be careful. Are you going to wait for Toya to arrive before you go?" she asked as she let Sakura's hands drop.

Sakura shook her head. "You know Toya," she said with a bright smile. "He'd never let me go without him, and if he's left **Mirror** behind, then he hasn't got a way to protect himself anymore. I'll take Rika and Terada. They should be enough protection."

She looked at Tomoyo, who gave her an understanding smile. "I know," she said, gripping Sakura into a hug. "I'd like to go with you, but I know **Song** would be useless for an occasion like this. I'll be here waiting for you to return with your father."

"Thanks, Tomoyo," Sakura said. "I'll come back soon, you'll see." She gave hugs to her aunt and grandfather. Masaki told her he would get her on the first available flight to Hong Kong. She left the room to go find Rika and Terada so that she could tell them to start packing before she headed to her own room to do the same.

* * *

 

It looked like a tree, but it was completely black, as if it was merely a cutout. Yelan could not tell what type of tree it was. It wasn't an evergreen, but rather one that was full of leaves, a fruit tree, perhaps. But it must have something to do with her or the future of someone close to her. Otherwise, **Dream** would not have shown it to her, for she had not called on her Clow's power before she had gone to sleep.

She looked around to see if there was anything else around her. She saw on her other side another black shape, as if something was lying curled up on the ground. It wasn't a person, as the shape was all wrong. But it could be some sort of animal, but she couldn't say for sure what it was…possibly a dog or a large cat.

Yelan looked from the tree to the mysterious animal, wondering why **Dream** would show her this. No one in her family had any particular connection to trees or animals. She couldn't gleam any danger from either of the figures. Her Clow's power gave prophetic dreams in general. So, she would have to be vigilant in the future to see if there was any connection to this dream.

Never again would she allow something to happen to her family when she had the knowledge to stop it.


	3. Wolf and Sand

The wind slipped through the air, rushing through the chimes placed outside her window. In turn, they filled the air with their melodious sound. The chimes added a subtle tranquility to the world rather than clashing with the peace. Yelan breathed in, relishing in the aroma of the tea in the cup held in her hands below her face. She took a small sip of the sweet liquid. It was her ritual every day, something she did as a release from the reality that she lived with. The reality that she was still missing them.

"Lady Yelan?"

Yelan set down her teacup without looking towards the doorway or acknowledging the disturbance to her peaceful world. "What is it, Wei?" she asked the man who had addressed her. A hint of her ire crossed her tone, though she knew that Wei would not have disturbed her for any light reason.

"There are some visitors at the gate asking to see you—two young ladies and a gentleman," Wei told her.

Yelan felt a slash of annoyance, but she took deep breathes again. Her tone was calm when she asked, "Did they say what they wanted?"

"Only that they wanted to see you."

Yelan picked up her cup and sipped her tea again, contemplating this new bit of information. She was not fond of visitors and rarely left the complex. Most business affairs she left to her daughters and their husbands. Since her own husband passed away, she felt no need to interfere in that regard. If the visitors did not have any important business, then she did not want to see them. As she brought the cup away from her lips and said, "Send them away, Wei."

"As you wish, my Lady."

But only a moment passed before Yelan remembered her dream of yesterday. These visitors might be what **Dream** wanted to tell her about. "Wait," she said and Wei stopped, having not even made it out the door. "Did they give their names?" she asked him.

"I believe the one introduced herself as a Ms. Sakura Kinomoto."

"Kinomoto?" she repeated. She knew that name from a very long time ago, back when her oldest daughter had been born. "From the Amamiya Family?" she asked to clarify.

"Yes, my Lady."

But Yelan's mind was already making another connection. The girl's name was Sakura—a name which meant cherry blossoms…a name associated with a tree. The fact that she could be a Clow Bearer…Yelan wasn't one to believe in so many coincidences. "Allow Ms. Kinomoto in. Have her leave her companions behind. Send in Meilin and Feimei to me, as well." If Ms. Kinomoto was a Clow Bearer, she wanted to have someone else at her side. While she was powerful, neither of her Clows had much offensive capabilities. She did not believe the Amamiya Family would have sent someone to attack her. But she had learned caution in the most difficult of ways.

"At once, my Lady."

Yelan set down her teacup again as Wei left. Her eyes stared out the window into the gardens beyond. Now, she would see.

* * *

 

"Are you sure this is the place?" Sakura asked her two companions. She bit her lip after the door closed behind the man that instructed them to wait. The doors were huge, vermillion with round copper handles. They made an impressive entrance to the walled area. She glanced over at the two giant lion statues on either side of the small set of stairs. She'd seen pictures before, but she'd never realized the actual things could look so intimidating. Or that they were so big.

Terada nodded and said, "It was the address that your grandfather gave us."

"They would have turned us away immediately if this wasn't the right place, Miss Sakura," Rika added. Her smile was reassuring to Sakura. "We did ask for Mrs. Yelan Li."

"Oh," Sakura said with a small jolt of realization. "I guess I didn't think about that." Her embarrassed laugh followed after her words as she felt a flush race across her cheeks. She rubbed her face to be her thoughts back in order. She needed to remember her missing father and her waiting mother. Sakura had to save her father before her brother came roaring across the world to get her. It's not that she didn't love her brother, but he could be so meddling sometimes. "Do you think she'll help us?" Sakura asked as her hands dropped back to her sides, almost scared of what she would do if Yelan didn't agree to help her.

"We won't know until we try, Miss Sakura," Rika said as she took Sakura's hands and gave them a tight squeeze. "I'm sure she won't be able to resist helping you, after all."

Sakura blinked at Rika. "What do you mean?" she asked confused. Rika hid a small laugh behind her hand and even Terada gave a small chuckle. Sakura looked back and forth between them making a small exclamation of confusion. She could not comprehend what they were talking about.

But neither answered her before the large doors opened again and two men stepped out. One was the man who had been standing guard at the doors before while the other was a nice looking older gentleman. Sakura's first thought when she saw him was that he looked like a butler. He wore in a black suit with spectacles over his eyes.

"Miss Kinomoto?" the grey-haired man asked.

"Yes?" Sakura took a tentative step closer to him.

The gentleman gave her a smile and a small bow. "I am Wang Wei, Lady Yelan's retainer. I am here to escort you to see her, though I'm afraid your companions will have to remain here." His look turned apologetic at those final words.

Sakura shot a panicked look over to Rika and Terada, both who looked worried at this news. "Maybe you shouldn't go, Miss Kinomoto," Terada said. "Your aunt would never forgive me if something happened to you."

She wasn't exactly sure whether it was a good idea or not herself. It might be as dangerous as Sonomi had warned. But Sakura knew that this might be her only chance to find her father, and she could not let this chance pass by. She did not want to imagine her mother's sorrowful face if she came back without him. She gripped onto that determination. "No. I will be fine." Her tone brokered no arguments.

Rika nodded, though there was still some uncertainty about her look. "We will wait here for you, Miss Sakura."

Sakura offered a smile. "I'll be back before you know it!" She waved to them as she followed Wei inside. As soon as she passed the threshold, the huge doors were pulled shut with a resounding slam. Sakura pressed her lips together and turned to get a look at what she couldn't see over the outside walls.

It was huge—that was what Sakura thought of the Li estate. Sakura had always thought that her grandfather's manor had a large estate. In comparison to the Li estate, it came out on the short end of the stick, like comparing a pond to a lake. Sakura looked around in wonder at the stunning gardens that she was walking through. Flowers of all colors lined the pathway. As they approached the house, she saw a pond with a small waterfall almost hidden within a copse of trees. "It's so beautiful," Sakura breathed. She took in a deep breath to immerse herself in the wonderful smells around her.

Wei's answering smile was kind. "Thank you, Miss Kinomoto." An indulgent expression lay across Wei's face. "Lady Yelan would be happy to hear that. She takes great pride in her gardens."

Sakura blushed at the compliment. She studied the house which, like the gardens, had a traditional look and feel. Somehow, she was glad to find it like that. A big contemporary mansion would have ruined the peaceful and tranquil mood of the place. Wei led her up the veranda and into the inner courtyard. While it was not as elaborate as the gardens outside the house, it was still very beautiful. Sakura didn't have time to study the enclosure before Wei slid open one of the doors and bowed her into the room. Sakura took slow steps inside and looked around, curious what she would find.

She assumed the woman sitting at the table in the center of the room was Yelan Li. Sakura's first impression of Yelan was that she was an intimidating yet elegant woman. But she also felt an inexplicable connection to her. She wore a long-sleeved, very complex hanfu. It was completed by a golden headdress. Despite how traditional they were, they fit her character to perfection.

Two other women were in the room as well. Both wore cheongsams that echoed tradition but were more modern than a complete hanfu. The one standing by the window with a frown upon her face looked to be about Sakura's age. She had long black hair like Yelan but her eyes were red rather than Yelan's piercing amber. She looked as if she was angry and unhappy to be there.

The other woman sat at Yelan's side. She appeared older than Sakura, but not quite as old as Yelan. If Sakura had to guess she would say she was near thirty. Unlike the other two women, her hair was a chestnut brown, and her eyes were a smoky grey. In a strict contrast to the other women, she greeted Sakura with a wide welcoming smile. A soft whisper breathed past her lips. "Oh Mother, she's adorable." The woman by the window glanced at the one who had spoken with her frown deepening even further.

Yelan gave no indication that she had heard the comment at all. The room was quiet for a few moments until she spoke at last. "You look a great deal like Nadeshiko."

Sakura straightened as she had no expected that comment. "You know my mother?" Tomoyo had told her that the Amamiya Family had been on almost friendly terms with the Li Dynasty before. Sakura hadn't known that Yelan had actually met her mother. Her mother had been gone with her father over a decade before her son had died, and she had cut off ties.

"I met her…before," Yelan said with the impression that she was going to say more, but she did not. "Please, sit down," she instructed instead. Sakura sat in the chair Yelan had indicated, tapping her toes on the ground once she was in it. She at least managed to stop her fingers from playing on her knees. "I am Yelan Li," she continued, introducing herself. She lifted a hand to the woman seated beside her. "This is my daughter, Feimei, and my niece, Meilin." She waved at the woman by the window.

"It's nice to meet you." Sakura gave a wide smile. She found herself a little more relaxed as none of the three women seemed ready to attack her at any moment. Well, except for the one by the window that hadn't stopped frowning. "I'm Sakura Kinomoto."

Yelan cut into her with her amber gaze. "Why have you come here, Miss Kinomoto?" She got straight to the point, skipping over any more niceties.

Sakura was flustered for a moment by her direct tone but recovered as she remembered why she was here. "My father disappeared in England…we think the Reed Clan might have kidnapped him." Sakura kept her explanation as short as she could. Yelan appeared to be a woman who liked to keep things short. "My grandfather told me that you have a Clow that could help me find him. I came to ask for your help."

Yelan was quiet for almost a full minute. Sakura squirmed in her seat under her unwavering and unrelenting gaze. Then, she stood up and walked around the table towards Sakura. Yelan bent over in front of her and took Sakura's chin in her hand. She studied her with an expression Sakura could not read at all. After another minute had passed, Meilin burst out, "Auntie, you can't seriously..." Yelan cut her off with a wave of her hand and Meilin fell silent in immediate obedience.

Finally, Yelan let Sakura go, but still held her gaze as she said, "Normally, I would not think of assisting you. However, I sense something about you…" She paused a moment to stand up. "I will…consider it."

Sakura jumped to her feet as a wealth of excitement bubbled up through her. It was more than what she could have hoped for after all the things that Sonomi had said. Unthinking and elated, she reached out and grasped Yelan's hand in both of her own. "Really? You will?" A moment later, she realized what she was doing. "I'm so sorry!" She flung her hands back as she stepped away. As she did so, she almost fell over the chair behind her that she had forgotten was still there.

Yelan's lipped turned upward in a ghost of a smile. "That's quite all right." But Sakura flushed in embarrassment. She could hear Feimei's laughter from where she sat.

"Mother, I like this one," Feimei said as she rested her head in her hand. Meilin gave a rather loud humph from her corner of the room and turned away with her arms folded across her chest.

A calculating look entered her eyes as she stared at Sakura for another moment. "Indeed." She turned away from Sakura. Sakura let out a loud breath that she hadn't even realized that she had been holding. Which caused Feimei to erupt into another fit of laughter.

Yelan returned to her seat at the table. She glanced at her daughter as Sakura slid back into her seat. Feimei covered her mouth with one hand as she quieted. Yelan looked at Sakura again. "You may remain here while I make my final decision. Your companions will have to return to the Amamiya Family. I have never liked for those not of my own family to stay in my home, though I am inclined to make an exception in your case. You can assure them that you will come to no harm while you are under my care."

Sakura didn't quite know what to make of that. If that was what it took for Yelan to help her, she would be willing to agree to whatever terms the woman presented. "All right," Sakura said. Her head bobbed up and down as her enthusiasm took over her agreement.

Yelan tilted her head to the side and stared at Sakura before she continued to speak. "You are free to roam the grounds as you wish, though I will assign someone to look after you. Feimei will show you to your room and your companions will be brought in so that you may say farewell to them." She turned away and looked at Meilin. "Stay. I wish to speak with you."

Meilin nodded but then glared at Sakura, who felt a rush of dismay mixed with confusion. When Feimei got up from her seat, Sakura realized that she had been dismissed. She got to her feet as well, this time managing not to almost fall. "Thank you." She bowed to her hostess in gratitude.

Feimei walked over to Sakura as Yelan gave her a small nod. "Come with me, Sakura." She smiled at the younger girl and Sakura found herself taking an instant liking to the woman. "You don't mind that I call you that, right?" she added as Sakura followed her out of the room and back onto the veranda.

"No," Sakura quipped as she got a better look at the inner courtyard garden which was fantastic. They walked back through another door. This time it led to a hallway, which Feimei explained led to the guest wing of the house. Lined along the hallway were extravagant paintings. Tables that held vases of stunning floral arrangements stood every few feet. Sometimes they held what Sakura could only imagine were priceless artifacts.

Feimei kept up a single-sided conversation about nothing in particular. They walked for about a minute before she reached a door. "Here we are!" Feimei opened the door, and stepped back to let Sakura walk through. Her jaw dropped with incredulous disbelief when she entered. The room was enormous. It must have been twice as large as her bedroom at her grandfather's. Not to mention a good ten times larger than her accommodations at college. A large dark wood canopy bed with crimson red sheets was the main focal point of the room. Besides the other normal bedroom set furniture, there was also a sofa set and a small table with two chairs.

Appearing oblivious to Sakura's reaction, Feimei continued to talk. "I tell you, it's so nice to have another girl around, for as little time as it will be. All Meilin ever cares about is training. And my sisters are all gone on business with their husbands most of the time. Do you have any siblings, Sakura?"

Sakura jumped at being addressed again. She was still trying to take in the surroundings. She scrambled to answer the question. "I have an older brother." Sakura tried to focus on the woman before her rather than this room that was so overwhelming. Sakura had grown up in very modest circumstances. They hadn't been poor, but her family had been only average. She had gotten used to the fact that her grandfather and aunt were wealthy. Yet, this seemed to be on a whole higher elitist level.

Feimei grinned as she sank into the chaise chair by the sofa. "I bet he's adorable, like you." She grinned as she beckoned Sakura over. Sakura took the adjacent seat on the sofa to Feimei. She was a little confused on how this woman could appear to be so different from her mother. "I have three older sisters, you see. There's Shiefa, who's the oldest, then the twins, Fanren and Fuutie, and then little ole me. We're all very close in age, less than a year apart between each of us, except Syaoran whose..." She cut off with a stricken look on her face.

It took her another second to make the connection. Sakura realized that Syaoran must have been the name of the boy that Tomoyo told her about. Her natural curiosity kicked in and before she could stop herself, she started to ask the question, "How did he..." But she cut off there with a gasp as she covered her mouth with her hands. "I'm sorry," she added horror-struck. "I shouldn't have asked."

"It's all right," Feimei said with a gentle sorrowful smile. "It's true that we don't talk about it, especially Mother, but well..." She trailed off as she trailed her hand across the fabric of the chair, turning her gaze away from Sakura. "I was eleven when it happened," Feimei whispered.

Sakura's eyes widened. She wondered if Feimei was going to tell her what happened to Syaoran. She felt a strange desire to know what had happened to that small boy. Tomoyo had told her before that the family had been very quiet about what happened to him. Because of that, Tomoyo had never heard exactly how he had died.

But Feimei didn't say anything more after a few seconds passed. Instead, she got to her feet and indicated a door on the other side of the room. It was different from the one they had entered from the hallway. "That door leads to the bathroom—it should already have everything that you need. That wall there slides over and leads out to the gardens on that side." She pointed at the wall opposite of entrance. She gave Sakura another smile. "If you do need anything else, there's a bell pull beside the bed. Or there should be one of the servants stationed outside your room."

"Thank you so much, Miss Li," Sakura said with a wide smile of her own as she got to her feet. Then she frowned in thought as she remembered something. "Your mother said there would be someone looking after me while I'm here. Do you know who that is?" she asked.

Before Feimei could answer that a voice came from behind her. "Miss Sakura."

Sakura looked at the doorway where Rika and Terada were standing. Feimei bowed herself out, leaving Sakura alone in the room with her companions. They walked further into the room as Feimei left. Sakura looked at the two of them and sighed she walked over to them. "Mrs. Li hasn't decided if she is going to help me. She's invited me to stay here while she makes her decision, but she wants only me to stay." Her smile turned apologetic and she shrugged.

Rika took Sakura's hands into her own. "But we can't leave you here alone, Miss Sakura." She shook her head as she spoke.

Sakura understood Rika's worry, but shook her head. "Rika, you and Terada should go ahead back to Grandfather's house. Mrs. Li assured me that I wouldn't come to any harm in her care. And someone has to go and tell my mother and grandfather what is going on." Sakura tried not to lead on how much staying here in this grandiose house was daunting. If she had to do it to save her father, she was willing to try.

"Are you sure?" Terada asked her.

"Yes. I'll be all right here and I have my Clows to protect me." She gave them her biggest reassuring smile. Rika and Terada glanced at each other looking worried.

Rika turned back to Sakura and gave a small bow. "All right, Miss Sakura," Rika said. "We will go tell Mr. Amamiya what you have told us." Sakura smiled at her, thankful that Rika understood. Rika snaked her hand into Terada's and began to pull him away. "Come along, Yoshiyuki. Good-bye, Miss Sakura." Terada echoed Rika's farewell before the both of them walked away.

Sakura gave them a farewell wave, but let her hand drop once they were out of sight. She walked over to the window and looked out of the window into the gardens beyond. "It will definitely be all right," she whispered to herself. She looked back at the vast empty room pouting a little. "I even wish Toya were here." She wandered over to the canopy bed and fell back onto it with her arms spread wide. She hoped that Mrs. Li would make her decision soon.

* * *

 

Sunlight trickled through the window over her face the next morning. Sakura rolled over and buried herself under her covers to escape it. She had never learned the art of waking up and was quite sure it was something she would never master. She froze and her eyes snapped open as she heard the door open and someone moving about the room. Her first irrational thought was that a ghost had come into her room. She hoped by ignoring it that it would go away. But then she remembered that it was morning and ghosts don't come out in the daytime. At least, that was what she always told herself.

Pulling up her courage, she poked her head out from under her covers to see a young lady fixing a tray on the table. Sakura breathed a huge sigh of relief. She pulled back the covers and greeted the other girl, who replied with a mild greeting of her own. As she was climbing out of the bed and padding across the floor to the table there was a knock at the door. The maid went over to answer as Sakura sat down to eat breakfast that looked delicious. She took her first bite of food and looked up to see Wei walk into the room, holding a wrapped package in his arms. He bowed to her and said, "Good morning, Miss Kinomoto."

Sakura swallowed a mouthful of rice porridge, coughing in her haste. "Good morning, Wei." She tried to pat her chest, but she was sure that Wei knew she had almost choked anyway. If he did, he was kind enough not to make a big fuss out of startling her.

Wei set the package down on the sofa with very precise movements. "Lady Yelan was concerned that you would not have suitable attire for our climate. It is quite a bit warmer here than what you are used to at this time of the year. She asked me to prepare something for you. I think you will find it the right size, but do let me know if it is not."

Sakura blinked at him for a few moments completely dumbfounded. Then she jumped to her feet and said with a genuine smile, "Thank you so much."

Wei returned the smile with a mild one of his own. "Please finish your breakfast, Miss Kinomoto," he said. "Feel free to explore once you are finished."

Sakura cocked her head to the side as she tapped her chin in thought. "Wasn't there supposed to be someone following me around?" she asked.

Wei gave her a more mysterious smile as he said, "Have a good day, Miss Kinomoto." He gave another bow and left the room.

Sakura flopped back down onto the chair and put some more porridge on the spoon. She slipped it into her mouth and left the spoon there as she thought through her confusion. Perhaps Yelan had decided that she didn't need to be followed anymore. Or maybe she didn't want Sakura to know who was following her. Sakura shrugged and dug back into the breakfast as she decided not to worry about it. She did look around in forlorn—it was kind of lonely to eat all alone. She even sort of missed her brother calling her a monster. On second thought, no. She felt a rush of anger flash through her as she recalled all those times he had done so. It was so completely unfair that he was so much taller than her. Once she finished, she frowned at the dishes, wondering what she was supposed to do with them. Huffing, she figured that the servants would take care of them, like at her grandfather's house.

So, she turned her attention to the package that Wei had left for her as she crossed the room to the sofa. She unwrapped it and examined the clothes inside, breathing out in awe. She ran her fingers across the fabric, breathless that she had been given such a gift. She raced into the bathroom to change and get ready for the day. A while later, she reappeared and walked over to the ornate full-length mirror to get the full look.

She turned back and forth in front of the mirror. She almost giggled as she thought about what Tomoyo's reaction if she had seen her. It was Tomoyo's hobby to dress Sakura up in extravagant (and sometimes strange) clothes. It was something Sakura had more or less learned to accept. Tomoyo had been doing it almost from the moment they met. The outfit was a green tunic like shirt with capped sleeves and a gold clasp at the high neck. On the bottom right-hand corner were some golden embroidered flowers. The lightweight pants were golden yellow and went past her knees. The shoes were the same green as the tunic and slipper-like both with the same golden clasp that was at her neck. Tomoyo went gaga over Sakura in any type of Japanese traditional clothing. Sakura knew she would love to see her in these Chinese clothes.

Sakura's smile was bright, and she figured this was a rather good beginning of the day. She went over to where Feimei had told her the wall slid open to the gardens. Opening it, she breathed in the wonderful smells of the garden again. She closed the door behind herself and stepped down onto the stone path that led further into the garden. Trying to stay on the stones so that she wouldn't ruin her shoes, she followed the path that led into a small thicket. A moment later, it opened up into a wide, open area. Downhill from where she stood was an area surrounded by a low stone wall. Inside the wall, there was a large square covered completely with stone. Two people were on it—fighting from what Sakura could tell.

Sakura ran down the hill to the wall, leaning on it with her elbows. She recognized Meilin as one of the women fighting. It occurred to her that Feimei had told her that Meilin trained a lot and figured that this was what she had meant. Sakura looked at the other woman and let out a breath of shock. It had to be a Clow as Sakura couldn't think of anyone else in the world that would have pale blue skin and hair. She was dressed in a blue outfit with a red diamond at the center of it and thigh high boots. But Sakura had never seen a Clow so big. Usually they were no bigger than a foot tall but this Clow was as big as a grown person. Meilin and the Clow were exchanging blows in rapid succession, mesmerizing Sakura. It was almost like watching a complicated dance. Sakura climbed up onto the wall to sit and watch them.

Finally, Meilin blocked one of the Clow's punches. Then, she wheeled her foot around to deliver a blow to the Clow's stomach that sent her flying. "Amazing!" Sakura cried out without thinking. She clapped her hands to her mouth as Meilin started and whirled her head around to look at Sakura. An instant later, the Clow disappeared, and Meilin strode over to stand a few feet from Sakura.

Meilin stared at Sakura with her hands on her hips and narrowed distrustful eyes. "What are you doing here?" she asked as she gave Sakura a good once over glance.

Sakura gave her a shrug as she stared down at her hands. She pushed her two pointer fingers together in a nervous habit. "I was exploring and saw you here." She chanced a glance at Meilin, who said nothing in response to Sakura. Delighted that Meilin wasn't about to yell at her, she looked up and let a bright smile cross her lips. "You were amazing! How long have you been doing that?"

"My whole life," Meilin answered turning her head away from Sakura and crossing her arms in front of her chest. A red flush crossed her cheeks causing Sakura to frown in concern.

"Are you alright?" she asked, thinking that Meilin was suffering under the heat.

Meilin looked back at her with a puzzled brow. "Yes, why?" she asked. Her tone was brisk and to the point, reminding Sakura of Yelan.

"Your face was all red," Sakura said with a small pout. "I was worried that you were doing too much under this sun."

Meilin's face flushed completely red and anger flashed in her eyes as she snapped, "I'm fine!"

Sakura cringed and glanced about for a change of topic. Finally, she remembered the other woman that had been out there. "Was that your Clow?" she asked.

Meilin leaned against the wall, leaving a few feet between herself and Sakura. "Yeah, that was **Fight** ," she answered with her head down as she dug her toes into the ground a little. "I used to only draw on her powers to enhance my training, but now she's the only one that can keep up with me. She's my sparring partner." Meilin let out a small mirthless laugh as she looked back across the empty expanse.

Sakura hummed in confusion. She swung her legs, bumping her heels on the wall. "I bet **Fight** is happy to be so useful to you. I hardly ever get to use my Clows, so sometimes I wonder if they're happy with me."

Sakura could have sworn she saw a small smile on the corner of Meilin's lips, but it was gone as Meilin turned to look at her. "That green matches your eyes." Now, she studied Sakura with a much gentler gaze than anything she had used before.

"Thank you," Sakura said happy that Meilin wasn't looking as hostile as she usually was.

There was a short quiet pause, but then Meilin said, "That outfit was made for me."

Sakura let out a cry of dismay and surprise and then almost fell off the wall as she lost her balance. She managed to grip on tightly. Meilin saved her from completely falling over as she grabbed Sakura's arm to steady her. "Are you trying to kill yourself?" Meilin demanded.

"I'm sorry," Sakura breathed. She settled a hand over her beating heart as Meilin let her go another second later. There was another small pause. "I didn't know," she admitted a little flustered. "Mr. Wei brought it to me."

Meilin waved a hand at Sakura and shrugged her shoulders in indifference. "Whatever," she said. "It doesn't matter. I've never worn it. You can keep it—it looks like Wei fixed it so that it fits you now instead of me, anyway."

Sakura slid her hands down the smooth fabric. "But why haven't you worn it?" she asked as she fingered the golden embroidery. "It's so pretty."

Meilin leaned against the wall again with one foot out. There was a sad distant look in her eyes. "I despise the color green and refuse to wear it."

"Why?" Sakura asked again confused. She had never heard someone express such an avid and unyielding hatred for something as mundane as a color before.

Meilin let out a sad and long-suffering sigh. "Because green was…" She trailed off as her expression turned into a sneering frown as she stood back up. She flipped her hair over one shoulder and dismissed her previous sentence. "Never mind."

As she began to walk away, Sakura called out to her. "Thank you, Meilin." She gasped as she realized that she had forgotten to address Meilin as Miss Li and had used her given name. But it had slipped out so easily, like it had before a long time ago with Tomoyo.

Meilin stopped for a moment. Her head turned to the side as she said in a voice Sakura could barely hear, "I hope you find you father…Sakura." She didn't look back after that. Sakura couldn't help but smile after her. Perhaps she had made a friend here after all. As Meilin moved out of sight, Sakura closed her eyes and leaned back. She let her head fall back, lifting her face to feel the sunlight bask its light and warmth down on her.

* * *

 

Yelan dismissed the last servant that had given their report to her. This left her alone with Wei again. Lifting her cup to drink her tea, she thought about all she had heard. She'd given them all instructions to have Sakura in sight of at least one of them at all times. They had all reported back to her and not a single report had been negative. In fact, many of the reports had been amazingly and extraordinarily positive.

"I believe she's a rather special girl myself, Lady Yelan," Wei said voicing a rare opinion.

"Anyone who can get Meilin to talk to them cordially for more than a few minutes has to be," Yelan murmured. That had been the most puzzling report. Meilin didn't like talking to people outside of the family. At least, she didn't like playing nice with strangers. But quite a few had insisted that they had seen Meilin and Sakura talking with each other. Without Meilin once trying to punch the other girl. Her attitude hadn't started immediately after the incident, not until her teens. But Yelan was well aware of why Meilin was the way she was. After all, it was the same for herself.

"What?" she asked Wei. She could have sworn she heard him say something that she couldn't hear. The last few words had sounded like "good for him" but she couldn't be sure.

"I'm sorry, Lady Yelan," he said as he refilled her tea cup. "It was of no importance."

Yelan pressed her lips together and hummed as she narrowed her eyes at her long-time retainer. He was someone who had become something far more than a servant or butler. Deep inside her, Yelan counted Wei alongside her own family—the closest of friends. Deciding to trust him and let it go, she said nothing more, but blew on her tea before taking another sip.

"Do you think I should help her, Wei?" Yelan asked.

"I believe that whatever you feel you should do is the right thing, Lady Yelan."

She should have expected him to say something like that. "I want your opinion, Wei," Yelan told him as she set her cup down. "I can order you to give it to me."

He was quiet for a moment as he stared away from her. In a slow movement, he turned to look at her. "I think that if anyone was deserving of your help, Lady Yelan, it would be this girl."

Yelan dipped her head into a nod as she took in those words. She had been thinking about the same thing. She didn't know why she felt so drawn to help her or why she had felt that connection to the young Sakura Kinomoto. Somehow, she couldn't help but feel that it would be a terrible mistake for her not to help her. "Very well," Yelan whispered, not sure who it was she was saying it to.

* * *

 

Sakura flopped onto the chaise that evening after dinner. She wondered when Yelan would make her decision and what she should do now. She didn't want to go outside in the dark. Even though it wasn't all that dark yet as the sun was still setting. Not only because how completely terrifying all the shadows that may or may not be ghosts were. While she had inherited her father's athleticism, she had also gotten some of her mother's clumsiness at the same time. She was sure to trip over something that she hadn't seen and injure herself.

There was a knock on the door and Sakura went over to answer it, smiling when she saw that it was Feimei on the other side. "Mind if I come in?" Feimei asked.

"Of course not," Sakura said as she stepped aside for Feimei to walk in. Sakura followed her over to the sitting area, where Feimei sat down on the sofa and Sakura took a seat on the chaise.

"How was your day?"

"Really great." Sakura thought about all that she had done and seen that day. The Li estate was a marvel to see. It was unfortunate that they felt the need to hide it behind that large wall. "What about you?"

Before anymore could be said, there was an authoritative knock on the door. Without waiting for a reply, the door opened and Yelan walked through. "Mother," Feimei said in surprise.

"Good evening, Feimei, Miss Kinomoto," Yelan said. She pierced Sakura with her gaze and then sat down on the sofa next to Feimei. She was quiet for a minute as she continued to study Sakura again. Neither Feimei nor Sakura said anything as they waited on Yelan. "I have decided to give you my assistance," Yelan said finally.

Sakura jumped up to her feet and exclaimed, "You have? I mean, thank you!" she corrected herself.

A small smile played on Yelan's lips. "You are a very interesting young lady, Sakura Kinomoto," she stated. She got to her feet and continued to say, "I will return once you are ready to go to sleep, and use **Dream** on you. It is best used at that time so that you will not feel tired tomorrow." She gave Sakura another unfathomable gaze before she hummed. "Good evening. Don't keep her up too long, Feimei." She left as graceful and poised as she had come, leaving Sakura to stare at her in disbelief.

Feimei got to her feet as well and grabbed Sakura's hands. "This is great, Sakura," she said. "You will be able to find out where your father is."

Sakura smiled. "I know!" But then she frowned again as she thought aloud, "I wonder what changed her mind. I haven't seen or spoken to her all day."

Feimei laughed. "If I know Mother, she's had all the servants watching out for you," she said as she again took her seat on the sofa. "What did you do today?"

Sakura sat back down on the chaise next to her and began counting off the things with her fingers. "Well, I went out to the gardens, talked with Meilin…"

"Wait, you talked with Meilin?" Feimei interrupted with a surprised tone.

Sakura nodded confused. "Sure," she said. "I think we might actually become friends one day!" she added with excitement. She faltered as Feimei was looking at her with a puzzled look in her eyes. "What is it?" she asked.

Feimei gave her a soft smile and said, "Oh, I just think I know why Mother decided to help you." She crossed her legs and rested her clasp hands over them as she leaned forward. "Now, what did you talk to Meilin about?"

"I asked about her Clow **Fight** and she told me how she practices fighting with it," Sakura recounted, eager to share. "She told me about this outfit, and, hey," she stopped for a moment as a thought occurred to her. "Meilin didn't seem to want to answer, but maybe…do you know why Meilin doesn't like green?" Feimei's expression turned blank for a moment, which made Sakura gulp. "If you'd rather not…"

Feimei waved her hand in a dismissive manner. "No, it's fine. I don't mind telling you. Green was my brother's favorite color," she answered after a mild pause. "He and Meilin were the same age and they used to... Well, I guess you could call it 'playing'." Her face scrunched up in thought as she appeared to be recalling the past. "Anyway, they were together a lot before he…you know. She was devastated after it happened."

"Oh," Sakura was unsure of what she could say to that. She tried to think of something else to say, but Feimei started to talk before she could come up with anything.

"I think I mentioned it before a bit, but we were all a lot older than him. He was only four and that was a good seven years younger than me." Sakura wondered if she was going to get her answer to the question she had voiced without thought before. The answer to how Syaoran had died seventeen years ago. "We still don't know what happened," she continued as she rested her cheek against the palm of her hand. "I think that's why Mother's never gotten over it. You see, **Dream** had given her a warning the night before that one of us was in danger. But she didn't figure it out until it was too late. I had never heard Mother scream like that before…" She trailed off as a shudder ran through her body.

Sakura sat listening, mystified at the story that Feimei was telling her. "What was it that…I mean, how did he..." Sakura tried to ask the question, unsure if she should be asking it, but something inside her somehow had to know.

Feimei seemed to understand as she gave Sakura a haunting grimace. "We think it had to be a Clow that did it, but there aren't any Clows that can kill without leaving a mark. There wasn't a single mark on him. There's no reason he should have died."

"I'm sorry," Sakura whispered. She was horrified at what had happened to this family and that small boy. She couldn't have imagined what it felt like to hear about it, but it somehow affected her right down to her very core. She almost felt that she should have done something to prevent it, even though she had only been four as well. It struck her then that they were the same age—she wondered if they would have become friends if he had not died. She might have met him, coming here to look for her father. Or it was possible they would have known each other for a long time before that. As it had been his death that stopped Yelan from staying in contact, they might have known each other.

"It was a long time ago." Feimei's voice was as quiet as Sakura's own. But there was a distinct longing in her tone that made Sakura think that it wasn't very long ago at all to her.

Sakura scrambled in her mind for a more bright and cheerful conversation topic. The first thing that came to her mind—which came spilling right out of her mouth—was the question, "What was he like?" She slapped her own forehead in her mind. She had not wanted to bring up the topic of Feimei's little brother again.

But to her utter surprise, Feimei's smile was brilliant and she laughed. "He was so cute and adorable." There was a fondness in her voice as she recalled him. "He was quiet, though—he hardly ever spoke unless he had to. He was incredibly serious, too, but that was probably why he was able to control his Clows even though he was so young. And he tried so very hard to be mean," she finished with a quiet laugh.

Sakura blinked in surprise. "What?" she asked, not sure why Feimei remembered her brother's meanness with such fondness.

"Oh yes," Feimei said with a nod and a smile still on her face. "It was quite fun to watch. Mother's always been strict and stern—never mean, mind you—but you can imagine how that looks to a little kid. He tried so hard to be like her, mostly towards Meilin who was a little bit younger than him. But he had too much of a gentle heart. He'd spend hours searching for some lost toy or treasure for her—without a word. Meilin adored him. She cried for months."

Sakura smiled. "I wish I could have met him," she said, almost without knowing where the thought came from.

Feimei cocked her head with a puzzled smile. "Somehow, so do I." There was an expectant silence between them as Sakura couldn't find anything to say to that. Feimei slapped her hands on her thighs and she stood up. "Well, I better let you get ready for bed so that Mother can come back and use her Clow."

Sakura raised herself to her feet. "Thank you, Feimei." It couldn't have been easy to recount her memories of her brother.

Feimei returned the smile and said, "You're quite welcome, Sakura." And then she slipped out of the room. Sakura walked over to the wall and slid it open. The sun was now completely down on the horizon, and it was close to the time for the moon to rise. She sighed as she looked out onto the garden. In a couple of hours, Yelan would return to her room and Sakura would be able to find out what happened to her father. She looked up at the sky, where a few early stars could be seen peeking out through the sky. She hoped he was okay, wherever he was.

"I'm coming, Dad," she whispered out into the night. "I'll bring him back, Mom." She giggled and thought she might as well go the whole way. "Don't get into too much trouble, Toya!" With a smile on her face, she slid the wall shut and turned back into the room to prepare for bed.

* * *

 

Once it was nighttime outside and Sakura had prepared for bed, Yelan returned to her room. Sakura was waiting for her, seated in the chaise of the room. She gripped her pajama pants in her hands. "What do I do?" Sakura asked the tall woman.

"It will be like falling asleep," Yelan answered with a small reassuring smile. As Sakura nodded and climbed into the giant bed, she pulled the sheets over her. Yelan's Clow appeared beside her. It looked like a woman who had long white hair and was wearing flowing robes. A headdress was placed over her head and it came down and covered her eyes. " **Dream** ," Yelan said. **Dream** morphed into a blue butterfly and flew over to Sakura, landing on her head.

It was instantaneous. One moment Sakura was lying in her bed; the next she was standing in a black abyss. Sakura looked around wondering what this could mean. Out of the darkness, a grassy field appeared around her. A few feet away, there rose out of the ground a clump of tall grass—but there was something different about it. Because her mother had been born with **Flower** and her grandfather, **Wood** , Sakura knew a lot about plants. And she was pretty sure that these were called reeds.

_Like the Reed Clan._

She ran over to the clump of reeds, knowing she would find the answer she was looking for. When she reached it, she pushed aside the grass to enter the center of the reeds. There she found something unexpected. A large dog—or perhaps it was a wolf—was lying in the center, looking as dejected as a dog could. Its eyes were closed and it looked like it was sleeping. A large iron shackle was hooked around the dog's neck linked with a tight chain that ran into the ground. It appeared that it would not be able to move an inch, even if it wanted to.

Sakura was starting to wonder what her answer could be with this dog when another object caught her eye. In front of the dog, there was a glass ball. She kneeled down and reached forward. Even though she knew it was a dream, she moved in a cautious manner, keeping a wary eye on the dog. But there was no reaction from it as she picked up the orb.

A desert storm spun inside it. "Dad?" Sakura whispered as she gazed into it. Her father's Clow was **Sand** , after all, so this could be what she needed to know. Still holding the orb in one hand, she looked down at the dog again. She reached out her free hand and laid it on the dog's head. In an instant, the orb in her other hand shattered, falling to dust on her hand. The sand that was inside continued to swirl above her palm. The sand lifted into the air above her and she stood with it. It flew out of the clump of reeds and off into a meadow full of flowers beyond.

A low rumbling caught her hearing, and she looked back at the dog. No, the wolf, she amended herself with sudden certainty. The wolf's eyes opened and she caught a flash of the color amber. In a moment, everything plunged into complete darkness again.

* * *

 

Sakura opened her eyes and rose up, rubbing her eyes. She had never been much of a morning person. The morning light streamed through the curtains over the window. As she pulled the sheets from over her, a small butterfly flew into her vision. **Dream** turned back into a woman before disappearing. Sakura stood up still somewhat in a daze over her dream. She walked over to the window and threw open the curtains to let the light in more.

"Good morning, Miss Kinomoto."

Sakura jumped about five feet into the air, completely startled. She turned around to find Yelan walking into the room. Behind her, Wei followed carrying a tray with cups, a teapot, and a plate of rolls. "Good morning, Mrs. Li," Sakura answered as she placed a hand over her rushing heart.

Yelan took a seat at the small table. Wei set the tray down and began pouring tea into the cups. "Thank you, Wei," Yelan said as he finished. Wei bowed and walked to stand by the doorway. Yelan looked at Sakura and said, "Please come sit."

Sakura sat in the seat opposite Yelan and sipped her tea. She smiled and said, "It's delicious. Thank you!"

Yelan gave her a small smile before she said, "Tell me about your dream." Sakura told her everything that she had seen. When she finished, she munched on one of the amazing honey rolls from the plate. Yelan was silent for a while after Sakura finished before she finally said, "I believe you are correct. The Reed Clan has your father. Furthermore, I believe by going to them your father will be released…as you saw when you picked up the glass orb of sand."

"But what about the wolf?" Sakura asked.

It took another few long moments before Yelan answered. "Perhaps it represents someone you will meet in the Clan," she said. "One you are meant to help or who will help you."

Sakura nodded, but then asked, "Do you know where I can find the Reed Clan?"

Yelan was quiet again before she said, "I do."


	4. Imprisoned Flower

"For the record, I think this is a stupid idea and you're dumb to even consider it. I am _only_ going with you because Auntie asked me to." Meilin glared at her over the top of her magazine. Sakura wilted under the harsh words. It was the first Meilin had said to her for the pasty twenty-four hours. Sakura's had made many attempts to start a conversation with her but failed. "So please, stop trying to talk to me. I have no desire to be your friend." With that, Meilin buried herself once again in her magazine.

"Oh." Sakura puffed out her cheeks. She had thought that they had made good progress when they had talked together the other day. Sakura had come to view Meilin as a friend even though they hadn't known each other for very long. It was discouraging to hear that she did not feel the same way. But Sakura had never let discouragement stop her before. Determined not to give up, Sakura put on her best smile and said, "Thank you for coming with me, Meilin." Meilin rolled her eyes but didn't answer. But Meilin's mentioning of Yelan brought back Sakura's memories of what had happened.

_"Do you know where I can find the Reed Clan?"_

_"I do."_

_Sakura jumped to her feet with her hands pressed to the table in her excitement. "Please tell me!"_

" _I do not believe that would be wise, Miss Kinomoto. The Reed Clan may not be evil per se, but they are little above criminals in my eyes."_

" _But you said my father would be released if I went there."_

" _I still believe that would be so, but at what cost?"_

" _If someone you loved needed you, wouldn't you do anything to help them, no matter what the cost?"_

_A heavy, oppressive silence fell over them. A sudden thick tension took hold, and it took Sakura a few long seconds to figure it out. Finally, she realized what she had said and who she had said it to. She was putting her foot in her mouth a lot lately. Before she could apologize, Yelan whispered, "Yes, I believe I would."_

Yelan had sent Wei off for Meilin immediately. She spoke to Sakura of trivial things, looking unconcerned about what Sakura had said. When Meilin arrived, Yelan told her that she was to take Sakura to the Reed Clan. Meilin had protested at first by agreed in the end. The plane ride over to England had been long and uncomfortable. Meilin had answered Sakura's every attempt at conversation with a glare and a grunt. She hadn't said anything until they were in the car driving towards the manor where the Reed Clan lived.

A few minutes later, their cab stopped in front of sturdy wrought iron gate. Sakura and Meilin got out of the cab—Meilin paused to tell the driver to wait. Beyond the gate, a tall dark Victorian mansion sat at the end of a driveway. Red flowers lined the drive, and it ended in a circle with a black fountain in the center of it. There was a guard house to one side of the gate. The door to it opened and a burly looking man walked out and approached them. He stared at them and Sakura realized after a moment that he was expecting them to speak first. "Oh, um, hi." She waved her hand in a weak gesture. "I'm Sakura Kinomoto and this is Mei—" She stopped there as Meilin let out a loud cough. She looked at Meilin who was shaking her head. It hit her with a jolt that the Li Dynasty and Reed Clan were enemies. Meilin wouldn't want the Reed Clan to know she was here. She turned back to the guard who was looking at them with suspicion clear in his eyes. Sakura gave a nervous laugh and said, "We're here to see the leader of the Reed Clan."

The guard grunted and turned his back on them and walked back into the little house. Sakura glanced at Meilin who exclaimed, "What a jerk!"

"Do you think that means we can't go in?" Sakura asked confused, but then the gates began to swing open.

Meilin gave a loud humph. "I guess that means you're allowed in."

"I guess," Sakura murmured. She started to walk in, but noticed after a few moments that Meilin wasn't following. She looked around and found Meilin standing in the same spot, unmoving. "Aren't you coming?" Sakura asked.

Meilin shook her head. "Auntie told me that under no circumstances was I to step foot on Reed property." She gave a sort of half-frown. "I'm supposed to wait for you and your father here."

Sakura's shoulders slumped in dismay. She couldn't believe that once again she had to face a family of Clow Bearers by herself. But she had to save her father, so she nodded at Meilin. "Okay," she said. "See you soon." She gave Meilin a small wave, which—to her surprise—the other woman returned with a half-smile of her own. Grinning, she walked up the driveway, bolstered by Meilin's turn in attitude. As she passed the gate, it swung back shut behind her with a creaking bang which cause Sakura to jump at the sound of it.

As she approached the intimidating mansion, the front doors opened. A breathtaking handsome man stood on the other side of it. Sakura stared up into his cold silver blue eyes almost mesmerized though there was no warmth in his gaze. He stood aside as Sakura entered the door, but shut it behind her. "Come with me." There was no infliction to his monotone voice. He turned his back on her. That gave Sakura a good look at his hair, which was silver despite the fact that he looked around her brother's age. It was longer than anyone's that Sakura had ever seen as it fell to his ankles. He spoke no more as he led Sakura down the hall and opened a door. "In here," he directed, still in that same toneless voice.

Sakura stepped into the darkened room where only a single dim light hung over the center of the room. Its light was too low to even illuminate the corners. The man who brought her here closed the door. Sakura looked around her. The room was devoid of all furniture except for a single large ornate chair. Besides the one she had come in, there was only one other door behind the chair. That door opened and Sakura couldn't help but take a step back. Her hands clenched into her fists in front of her chest, as she felt some uneasy terror rush through her.

A man walked into the room and at first, in the shadowed light, Sakura thought it was her father. She could feel her lips curl up into an excited smile, but then she froze as the man came further into the light. He looked like her father, but she knew that this man was missing the gentle happiness that she felt with him. The man placed a hand on the back of the chair as he looked at her over it. "So, you are his daughter," he said and though his voice was quiet, it sliced straight through Sakura's heart.

"Who are you?" Sakura asked not quite managing to keep her voice for trembling.

The man smiled but it didn't reach his gray eyes. It was nothing like the warm smiles she was used to getting from others. His hand started trailing down the side of the chair as he began to walk around it. He stopped with his hand resting on the arm of the chair. "You look like your mother," he said instead of answering her question. "Your father had a picture of her with him."

Sakura gasped as he said that. "Please, if you have my father, let him go!"

The man didn't answer, but walked over to where she was standing and circled around her once. Sakura was determined not to let him get to her and so she lifted her chin up and glared at him the best she could. But she couldn't help the shivers that trickled through her body as he trailed a hand down her cheek. He chuckled as he let his hand drop back to his side. As he walked back to the chair, he ignored her request as he said, "I am Eriol Reed, the leader of this Clan. I suppose that would make me your uncle." He sat down in the chair.

"My uncle?" Sakura repeated.

Eriol rested his head on his hand as his free fingers drummed on the other arm of the chair. "Yes. Your father is my twin brother, so that would make you my niece, would it not?"

"If you're his brother, why would you kidnap him?" Sakura demanded.

A devilish smile crossed Eriol's lips. "Who said that I have your father?" he asked.

That gave Sakura pause for a moment until she remembered that Yelan had told her that was what her dream meant. "I know he's here," she said fiercely. "Please let him go."

"Hmm…your father is a traitor, young miss," Eriol said. The dispassion in his voice had her chest tight. She couldn't see how anyone could talk about their family like that. "When we discovered him here in England, what else could we do but bring him back to face his punishment?"

"My father is not a traitor," Sakura burst out, clenching her hands into fists.

"He betrayed the Clan and ran away from his responsibilities."

"But he was happy with us—with Mother, my brother, and me," she protested. She felt desperate as she asked, "Why wouldn't you want your brother to be happy?"

Eriol looked over at one of the dark corners of the room for a few seconds before looking back at Sakura. She frowned and followed his gaze but didn't see anything. In a very different tone from any Sakura had heard him use before, one that she couldn't even begin to name, he spoke. "Sometimes happiness must be sacrificed for the good of the Clan."

The door behind Eriol opened and two more men walked through the door. As they walked further into the light she recognized one was the man who brought her here. The other was Fujitaka. "Dad!" Sakura called out taking a step closer to him but held back, worried about what Eriol would do next.

"Sakura?" Fujitaka asked with shock displayed in his brown eyes. He tried to run over to her, but was held back by the silver-haired man. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to take you home," Sakura said with a smile, happy to see that her father was doing fine.

A low chuckle came from Eriol. "And how do you plan on doing that, darling Sakura?" he asked.

"Take me instead," Sakura said immediately before her mind had even thought through it. An indulgent grin spread across Eriol's face at her words. Sakura to bristled, thinking that he wasn't taking her seriously. "My Clows are much more valuable," she told him. It was reckless to give out that information. Her parents and brother had told her many times not to tell anyone about her Clows.

"Sakura," Fujitaka said with a protesting tone. Sakura ignored him as she remembered what she had told Yelan. She knew that she would do anything to save the ones that she cared about. Perhaps Eriol was right after all... perhaps your own happiness had to be sacrificed sometimes. In her mind, she sent a silent plea to **Firey** and **Watery** to _please_ not fight. For only the second time in her life, Sakura summoned all four of her Clows at the same time. **Firey** and **Earthy** appeared on her right, while **Windy** and **Watery** appeared on her left.

Eriol let out a gasp and shot to his feet. "You have all four Elemental Clows?" he asked with wide eyes—the first time Sakura had seen him with such a revealing emotion. There was a strange look in his eyes— _eager_ was the only word Sakura could think of to describe it.

"Yes," Sakura stated but a bit confused at his tone. "And if you promise to let my father go and leave my family alone, I will give you my word that I will stay here with you."

"Sakura, what are you doing?" Fujitaka asked.

Eriol's face recomposed itself and the indifferent grin returned. "And if I don't?" he asked, also ignoring Fujitaka.

Sakura took a step forward, and her Clows began to circle around her as they sensed her agitation. "I don't like to fight. I have never used them in such a fashion, but I _know_ my Clows can do a lot of damage if I used their full power."

"You're threatening me, aren't you?" To her great surprise, Eriol burst into laughter. After a few moments it subsided and he continued, "My dear, you do have some spirit, don't you? Very well." He sat back down in his chair. "I will give you my word to release Fujitaka and leave your family alone from now on, as long as you stay here and do as I say." He turned to look at the men behind him. Her father looked devastated, but the other was the picture of indifference. "Yue, let Fujitaka say goodbye to his daughter." The silver-haired man let go of Fujitaka's arms.

Sakura dismissed her Clows and broke into a wide grin, as her father ran over to her and gathered her in his arms. "You shouldn't have done it, Sakura."

"You would have done the same for me," Sakura said, as tears gathered at the corner of her eyes.

"I'll find a way to come get you, Sakura," Fujitaka whispered in her ear.

Sakura no longer trusted herself to speak. She nodded into his shoulder, not knowing if her father ever would be able to do that. "Goodbye, Dad," she whispered into his ear, knowing that she had to say something. "Tell Mom and Toya that I love them."

"Yue," Eriol quipped. As the man walked over to them, Fujitaka let go of her. Yue grabbed her father and pulled him out of the door that Sakura had come in. Sakura turned her back on them as tears flowed down her cheeks. She shut her eyes, trying not to listen as her father called out her name behind her. The door closed with finality, leaving Sakura in the room with Eriol once again. Sakura wiped the tears from her cheeks as she struggled to regain control of her emotions. When she looked at Eriol again, he was studying her with a calculating look. Without warning, he said, "Wolf."

Sakura gasped as a figure rose from the shadows of one of the corners of the room. She had not seen him at all due to the low lighting. She remembered the dream she had at the Li estate and wondered if this could be the person it had been referring to. It seemed unlikely that it would not be if the person's name was, in fact, Wolf, like the animal in her dream. As he came into the dim light, she saw that it was man who looked familiar for some reason. But she was sure that she had never seen him before. She was also sure that she had never seen a living person's eyes look so empty before. He was rather tall as well, though not quite as tall as her father and brother. Though he looked intimidating in appearance, Sakura found herself not afraid of him. In fact, for reasons she knew she could never explain, she felt safer now with him here.

He spoke neither as he approached the chair nor when he stopped next to Eriol. "Take my darling niece to your room," Eriol said without looking at the man beside him. His gaze never wavered from Sakura. "You'll be looking after her from now on."

His expression did not change in the slightest, but Sakura let out a cry of dismay at that information. She did not relish the idea of staying with a man she had only met about five seconds before. "Wolf here is the best guard you could ask for, my darling Sakura." A nightmarish and sadistic smile that chilled Sakura to the bone rested on his face. "And I'm afraid he's the one that would be able stop you if you decide to go back on your word. Two birds, you see?"

Eriol stood up out of the chair and gave a hollow chuckle. He finally turned away from Sakura and looked at Wolf. The man's expression still remained blank. With feral grin, he looked back at Sakura and said, "I recommend that you don't startle him or make him angry. I would hate to lose my only niece." He walked around the chair and back out the door that he had come in. This left Sakura alone with Wolf to contemplate what he had told her.

Wolf looked at her for half a second before he turned away and walked towards the door behind the chair. Sakura, scared of being left alone in this room, took a step forward and called out, "Wait! Where do I go?"

Wolf paused at the door and stared at her for another second. "Follow me," he said. His voice was rough like he didn't use it very often and rather quiet. Without saying anymore, he opened the door and walked out into the hallway. Sakura hesitated for another half a second before running after him. As she walked into the hallway, light flooded her vision, causing her to squint. She had been in that darkened room for some time. By the time her vision adjusted, Wolf was all the way down the hall and almost around the corner. She raced after him and then walked timidly behind him.

The house was very different from Yelan's or her grandfather's. Though it had paintings and was decorated to perfection, there seemed to be less life to it. Almost as if it was a museum instead of a home. The walls were a creamy white, like they were attempting at warmth, but it felt stiff and cold. It wasn't long before Wolf stopped in front of a wooden door and twisted the knob to open it. Sakura stepped inside after him, stopping on the other side of the threshold. She glanced around at the modest room—quite a bit smaller than her room at the Li estate or even at her grandfather's. The bed was at least a queen size, but that was about as high as the extravagance got in the room. There was only the bare minimum of other furniture. A dresser, an armoire, and an arm chair were all that Sakura saw. She looked around in dismay, wondering how she was supposed to share the small space with this man. Not to mention the problem of only one bed.

But Wolf did not seem to share her alarm. He didn't even look at her as he crossed the room to one of the other two doors beside the entrance. It wasn't until he had opened the door that he looked back at her. "This way," he said.

Sakura jumped at the sound of his voice—he had been so quiet since they left the dark room. She tiptoed over to the door. He didn't walk through the door, but it was clear to Sakura that she was meant to. She walked through and found herself in another bedroom similar to the one she had been in. There was a sofa instead of a chair and a small table with two chairs added. Besides the door she had come in, there was one other door on the right wall. Sakura walked over to it and opened it. She was expecting to find the hallway, but found a small bathroom. It too was only equipped with the barest of necessities. She closed the door again and looked back around the room. Finally, she realized that the only way out was through the other bedroom—which no doubt belonged to Wolf. It may not have had bars, but this was her prison.

Sighing, she walked back over to Wolf, not sure what she was supposed to do exactly. "Do you need anything?" Wolf asked.

She looked up at him surprised that he would ask that. She felt confused, though she wasn't sure what about. A stray lock of his hair—the very same color as milk chocolate—had fallen down over his eyes. Without knowing why she was doing it, Sakura reached up a hand to brush it away. Wolf jerked back away from her before she could even touch him. An emotion flashed in his amber eyes for such a short moment that Sakura didn't even had time to recognize it. Without a word, he turned away from her and walked back into his own room. The door shut resolutely behind him.

After another moment, Sakura let her hand drop back to her side and glanced around the room again. She walked over to the bed and flopped back on it, breathing out in almost exasperation. Dad…Mom…Toya…Tomoyo…she wondered if she would ever see any of them again. She closed her eyes and found the vision of Wolf's face floating across her mind. She furrowed her brows in thought, trying to remember where she had seen that color of eyes before.


	5. Revelations of Nothing

Tomoyo propped her elbow on the armrest of the door. She set her head in her hand as she gazed out of the car window, a worried frown on her lips. The scenery of the mountainous trees was buzzing past. They had left behind the highway on Lantau Island about ten minutes ago, now driving down Tung Chung Road. They had to go through the mountains to the other side of the island to get to where the Li estate sat. The view was beautiful, but Tomoyo couldn't focus on that. At the moment, she worried about Sakura and Fujitaka. She looked at the other occupants of the car. Nadeshiko sat despondent beside her in the back with Toya sat tense in the front seat next to the cab driver. It had been almost a week since Sakura had left Japan to go see Yelan Li. Rika and Terada had arrived back two days after they left. Both said that Sakura was staying to try and convince Yelan to help them.

It was an understatement to say Toya had not been happy when he had come to Grandfather's house to find Sakura gone. It had only been thanks to Nadeshiko's intervention that he had not gone on a roaring crusade after her. Rika and Terada had been certain in their belief that Sakura would be safe at the Li estate. Nothing else would have convinced them to leave Sakura alone in Yelan's hands.

They had no more word until a letter had been hand delivered to her grandfather's house the previous day.

Tomoyo looked down at Nadeshiko's pale hands where she grasped the letter. She hadn't let go of the paper since the messenger had laid it in her palms. Tomoyo only knew what it said due to the fact that she had been there when it had arrived. She had be unable to stop herself from looking over her aunt's shoulder to read it. Especially since the moment her eyes had landed on the paper, Nadeshiko went pale and tensed up. The message on the paper had been very brief. It had said:

_Fujitaka Kinomoto has been returned. You may come to our home to collect him._

Yelan Li signed it on the bottom, and it said no more. The moment she finished reading, Tomoyo called for her grandfather and Toya to tell them about it. Toya insisted on going with his mother to Hong Kong, like he had with Sakura what seemed like forever ago. Tomoyo went along as well, as she should have done in the first place with Sakura. But she knew that Sakura would have worried about her the whole time. Tomoyo's Clow had no offensive or defensive capabilities. Now they were less than five minutes away from the Li estate, hoping to reunite with their missing family.

None of them had mentioned that the letter had not said anything about Sakura.

Tomoyo could tell they were all worried about it. But if they were to say it out loud, it would make it real that there was a possibility that something was wrong. Tomoyo sighed and move her hands back into her lap as she stared down at them. Perhaps she was overthinking the whole situation. The fact that Yelan had not mentioned Sakura in her letter could mean nothing at all. The letter had not been long after all. It was possible she had not felt the need to include any more information than necessary.

But Tomoyo thought that a woman like Yelan Li would understand the importance of words. Her family was not only famous in the hidden world of Clows, but also in the real business world. The message had been specific. It said " _collect him_ " and not " _collect them_ ". Tomoyo had a terrible feeling about the whole affair.

"Are we there yet?" Toya asked in his deep voice with his tone full of impatience. Tomoyo looked up at her other cousin, whose fingers were tapping against his knee. There was a hard look in his dark brown eyes. Tomoyo only ever saw that look when Sakura was involved in something that Toya didn't like. He was protective of his younger sister, which he hid behind a mask of teasing around her.

"Almost, sir," the driver replied.

Toya grunted in a non-committal way and turned his gaze away. Tomoyo studied him for another moment longer. Then she looked outside again to see that they were finally leaving the mountain road. Buildings came into view in the near distance. The rest of the ride was quiet until the cab stopped in front of an impressive large door to a walled area. Two men were standing outside it on either side of the doors.

There was a pause after the driver told them they arrived. All three of them sat in the car, staring at the Li Estate. At last, Toya opened the door and stepped out. He walked around the car to Nadeshiko's door and pulled it open before holding out his hand to his mother. A small smile graced Nadeshiko's lips as she took Toya's offered hand and allowed him to help out of the car. Tomoyo felt a smile curl up the edges of her lips at the sight of the small courtesy. Tomoyo pulled the door handle and stepped out onto the street on her own. She knew Toya would have helped her as well, but she was too eager for news of Sakura to wait.

After paying the driver, the three watched him drive away before turning to the imposing door. This time it was Nadeshiko to move first as she lifted her skirt to ascend the stairs. She tripped only on the last step, but Toya was there to catch her arm before she fell over completely. She whispered her gratitude towards her son as she walked up to one of the men standing at the door. "I am Nadeshiko Kinomoto," she said to one of the guards, finally relinquishing the note in her hand to him.

The guard glanced over the letter before nodding at the other guard. Together, they opened the large doors. The one who had the letter in his hand led them along the path to the vast home where the Li Dynasty resided. At the entrance to the building, a smiling middle-aged man met them. He introduced himself as Wei. The guard went back along the path to his post as the three of them followed Wei into the house.

Toya's hands clenching and unclenching into fists showed his anxiety. Tomoyo looked up at his face to find his jaw tense and his eyes hard. Nadeshiko had an almost spring to her step that increased the further they got into the house. Wei stopped in front of a door and pulled it open. He bowed and held out a hand, indicating that they should enter. Toya strode in first, followed on his heels by Nadeshiko, leaving Tomoyo to trail behind.

Time seemed to stop for a moment as they all stared. A tall man stood beside the cracked open sliding door on the other side of the room. Nadeshiko raced across the room, tripping on air about half-way through. But it didn't matter as Fujitaka was there to sweep her up into his arms. Nadeshiko wrapped her arms around Fujitaka's neck and buried her face in his neck. Fujitaka sat down on the bed with her still in his arms and began to stroke her hair. Tomoyo covered her smile with her hand as she almost giggled at the pair. Sometimes, her aunt and uncle could act like they were still newlyweds.

"I am glad to see you reunited." Everyone looked at the door for the source of the voice. Tomoyo could only assume that the regal woman standing in the doorway was Yelan Li. She inclined her head to Fujitaka and Nadeshiko as she walked into the room. "Forgive my intrusion. I am Yelan Li. This is my daughter, Feimei," she finished, indicating the other woman who walked into the room with her.

"Where is Sakura?" Toyo demanded, wasting no time, taking a step forward towards Yelan.

Yelan turned her attention toward Toya. Her gaze was piercing as she studied him and, for a moment, Tomoyo thought that she wasn't going to answer him. Finally, she said, "My niece told me that she remained with the Reed Clan, though she did not know why." She looked back over at Fujitaka, as if indicating that he would hold the answers that Toya sought for.

Nadeshiko raised her hand to Fujitaka's cheek. "Fujitaka, why would she stay with him?" she asked him.

There was a look of deep sadness as he looked down at his wife. Nadeshiko seemed to understand as she gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. Tomoyo could feel herself begin to quake. The scenarios of what could have happened to her beloved cousin raced across her mind. It seemed to alarm Toya too as he bit out, "What? What is it?"

Fujitaka looked at Yelan. "Mrs. Li, I know you have **Dream**. Will you please use it to see what is happening with Sakura?"

Yelan's reply this time was instant. "I made an exception once for your family. I am not much inclined to do so again." There was a small pause as she looked at them as if searching for something. She shook her head and said, "No. You will leave after dinner this evening and return to the Amamiya home." She said it with a tone of finality and turned to leave.

But Fujitaka slipped Nadeshiko off his lap as he stood up. "Please," he tried again. "Sakura gave herself for me. I can't leave her in that house. You don't know what Eriol is like."

Yelan raised one single eyebrow as she turned back around to look at Fujitaka. "Do you know why your brother would agree to trade you for Sakura?" she asked.

"Yes," Fujitaka admitted. "It is because of Sakura's Clows. I only have **Sand** , but she has the Elemental Clows, so my—"

Yelan interrupted him. "She had the Elemental Clows? All of them?" Yelan asked. There were only the barest hints of alarm in her voice that gave away her feelings.

Fujitaka and Nadeshiko exchanged a glance that spoke volumes in their shock. Fujitaka nodded at her. "I know it's hard to believe because it happens so rarely," he said. His tone was almost apologetic.

"As rare as the Attributes," Feimei murmured.

Yelan looked over at her. Feimei flinched as if she was expecting some harsh rebuke or angry comment. But Yelan was only quiet for a long time. She lowered her eyes and whispered, "Yes…and never before at the same time..." She placed her finger on her chin in thought and in a whisper so quiet that Tomoyo barely heard her, "…coincidence…"

Tomoyo's mind was already whirling. The way Yelan had stated it made it sound like someone right now was the Clow Bearer to the Attributes. That was something Tomoyo had not known. She looked around at the room. Toya remained tense at her side. Nadeshiko was looking at Fujitaka, while he was staring at Yelan. Feimei, too, was staring at her mother but with something like confusion on her face. Tomoyo took the chance to speak. "But…what does that mean?" she asked.

Yelan blinked as she looked over at Tomoyo. "It means that you may remain here," she said. She nodded at Feimei, who walked out the door at whatever silent command her mother had given. "I have decided that it may be worth using my Clow. I will have rooms prepared for you," she finished. She left the room, leaving all the occupants behind to stare in wonder at the sudden change of attitude.

* * *

 

The rain was falling from the sky in a bare drizzle. The raindrops slicked down the sides of the black sedan car as it drove through the streets. It wasn't unusual weather. There were far more cloudy and rainy days here than sunny. The main point was that it was nothing that would have any effect on the mission itself.

The car looked like any other town car one would see in any city in Britain. But because it didn't look like a tank did not mean that it didn't have almost the same capabilities. Eriol Reed was a man of impeccable taste and brilliant strategies. It was gaudy to roll around the streets of London in a real tank. Not to mention Parliament might have a fit. Also, there was a sort of primeval satisfaction about driving up to the unsuspecting enemy and seeing their confusion before unleashing a relentless mighty fury upon them. But it didn't matter in the end. The weapons of the car were rarely used as the _real_ weapons of the Reed Clan were the two men sitting inside.

One in particular might have appeared sound asleep to the casual observer. His eyes were closed, and his arms were folded loosely across his chest. His thoughts were neither on the car nor on the mission that he was about to accomplish with Yue. The mission was another mere "request" from the government to shut down a criminal group by any means.

No, his mind was dwelling—as it never had before—on a single individual that he had left behind at the manor house. Sakura Kinomoto; Eriol's chatty, cheerful prisoner that he had been given charge over. He had never before been given a responsibility like this. Nor he had ever had the inclination to dwell on any one person until she arrived. It had always been unnecessary. He'd been taught that there was little value to life, whether it be his own or others. He wondered how he could with as many others' lives as he's taken away with his Clow.

The car rolled to a stop and Wolf's eyes opened. He noticed in passing that the rain had stopped, but the sky was still overcast. They had stopped outside a building that looked like any of the other warehouses around it. A tall large wall surrounded the entire enclosure. Wolf and Yue stepped out of the car and stood about fifteen feet away from the gate leading into the complex. The car drove off down the street. It was far enough to be out of range of the building, but not so far as to not be able to come back and provide support. If they required it, which was a rare occurrence.

All was quiet. It seemed that whoever they were, they had not figured out Wolf and Yue were here. Or at least they hadn't figured out who they were. Wolf didn't particularly care to know who they were here to destroy. Eriol had told them to destroy this building and all those who dwelled in it. Wolf didn't need to know anything beyond that. Regardless, they would pay for being so incautious.

Yue called out his Clow, while Wolf did not (he had standing orders when it came to his Clow). **Arrow** appeared as a small girl child with a fierce expression of determination on her face. She wore a violet blue outfit with long boots and gloves. Her defining characteristic was the round red jewel resting on the crown of her head in her pink hair. Yue lifted his hands into position, as if he was already holding a bow and arrow, though nothing was in his hands. He spoke **Arrow** 's name in a dispassionate voice. In his hands appeared a bow set that seemed to be made of nothing but energy or light. He took aim at the gate doors, and around him, dozens more arrows of energy blinked into life. All were pointed at the gate as well. Yue let the arrows fly towards the gate, exploding it inward towards the building upon impact.

The two of them took positions on either side of the giant hole that was once the gate. They took cover in what remained of the wall, as they heard sirens and the rush of movement from inside the complex. The sound of bullets ricocheted off the walls behind them. Yue took the chance every few seconds to send his own arrows shooting again into the complex by the dozens. Wolf could tell when he made a hit as the sounds of men's dying cries flitted through his ears.

As it most often always was, using his Clow would be the simplest solution. Though he had never used his Clow on anything so large before—he was unsure what the consequences would be for him. His Clow took an immense drain on his magical energy, which affected his physical state. He could only assume that was the reason Eriol didn't have a particular liking for Wolf's Clow. He would not hesitate to have him use it if it was the only means to finish a mission. But Wolf always had been and would always be the last resort. Wolf knew that Eriol would not be pleased if he used it so early in the mission. Especially since it was clear that Yue was accomplishing without difficulty. Yet, he felt something that he never had before. A certain impatience, that was formed from both urgency and desire, to return the manor house. He could not place why, but for a moment his mind conjured the image of Sakura's smiling face.

He glanced over at Yue, who was still calm and using **Arrow** to assail their enemy. Almost without making the decision to act, he summoned his Clow and she appeared before his eyes. She was a young girl like **Arrow** , but her expression was empty and devoid of all emotion. Both her hair and dress were long and flowing. Two small deceptive angel wings spread out behind her head. A large blue jewel rested in the center of her forehead. He saw Yue glanced back at him and heard him bite out the words, "What are you doing?" in an annoyed tone, but Wolf paid him no mind as he stepped out behind the wall and faced the building. He encompassed the whole complex into his view and concentrated his power. Then, he spoke a single word to activate his Clow.

" **Void**."

In an instant, a gigantic black orb encompassed the entire area. The orb was semi-transparent for a moment before it turned completely opaque. After only a second, it disappeared again. Everything that had been inside it—the ground, the building, the people—was gone. They were completely erased from existence by his Clow. There was nothing left but a giant empty crater.

It only took another moment before the effect of using **Void** hit Wolf like a shot of lightning. It was as if every nerve had ignited with pain, but he knew that it was not actual physical pain that he was feeling. He could hear Yue say his name, but it was as if Wolf's mind was shutting down. He was minutely aware that it was possible that was exactly what his mind was doing. It sounded like Yue was speaking from underwater, but that wasn't the only strange thing about it. Yue's voice sounded like he was screaming Wolf's name…but Yue never raised his voice. He was much too cold and detached for that. Wolf knew then that he must have been imagining it due to his mind's overload. There was no way that he heard actual true alarm in Yue's voice.

He was aware that he was falling, but he had no control over it. His eyes closed, and Sakura's face flashed across his ragged mind. He was glad that the mission was now over so that he could go home. But that was bizarre as he had never thought of the manor house as home before, though he had lived there all his life.

As darkness swam around his mind, blurring all thought. Sakura's image disappeared and another woman's image appeared. One he would have sworn in that moment that he had never seen before. It was unclear and fuzzy, but he knew she was beautiful. However, she gave him a feeling of warmth that he did not recognize as he fell into the abyss.


	6. Jewel Moon

Sakura put her last card down on her game of solitaire. She had lost count a good fifty games ago to how many she had played that day. She shuffled the deck and reset the game. Catching an easy ace on her first turn of the cards, she placed it up in its proper spot. Her mind wandered to the situation she found herself in. She'd been here in the Reed mansion for three days. Stuck in this very room to be precise.

And except for her uncle and Yue that first day, she'd seen no one but Wolf and one maid who came in once a day. The maid was a shorter woman with a bob of brown hair and glasses with large circular lenses. She had only come twice—once yesterday and once the day before that. Sakura had attempted to start a conversation with her or even learn her name. She had been unsuccessful so far, though the maid had given her a small smile before she left yesterday.

Wolf was a completely different situation. She'd seen him more than a few times as he was the one who brought her meals. But she was coming to learn that being with him was like being alone anyway. Wolf brought in her food and then stood at the door waiting for her to finish. After the first two meals ended in silence and unanswered questions, Sakura had stopped asking him anything. But she hadn't wanted to give up. So, she tried a different tactic last night.

Instead of asking questions, she had started talking to him without expecting a reply. She rambled on about anything that came to mind. She jumped around subjects as one tangent led to another. Wolf had remained silent the entire time she was talking. This morning, she had repeated the process during breakfast. She mentioned in that long one-sided conversation a wish that she had something to do. Wolf had again said nothing. But when she got out of her shower that morning after he left, there was a pack of cards lying on the table.

It had come as a complete surprise, considering that the gift most likely came from Wolf. And that confused her to no end. Other than bringing her food, he had given her no sign that he cared for her well-being at all. But she was not one to be ungrateful about a gift. So, she sat down and started playing the only game she knew how to play alone: Solitaire.

As she put the King of Hearts on top of its pile to finish the game, she looked at the clock. It was well past the time that Wolf usually brought her lunch. She wasn't famished yet, but he had never been late before. And though she could not even begin to explain (even to herself) why, she worried about him. There wasn't anything she could do about it either because she was locked up in this room. Though, to be completely honest, any one of her Clows could get her out, but she'd given her word to her uncle.

Sakura gazed at the door for a few moments, but it remained shut. Sighing, she gathered up the cards into another uniform stack. This time she put them aside instead of starting a new game. Concentrating for half a second, she called out **Windy** for company. The Clow was her companion in her lonelier moments. Sakura loved all her Clows, but **Windy** had always been the most comforting with her gentle nature. **Windy** swirled around her once before coming to rest in the air above her left shoulder with a calm smile of her face.

"I know I shouldn't care what happens to him, because I doubt he will ever agree to be my friend," Sakura lamented to the Clow. She looked down at the deck of cards again and trailed her fingers across the top. "But I do care," she murmured. "And I want to be his friend."

_You must first free his heart, Mistress_ , **Windy** said. Her lips did not move, but Sakura heard her voice in her mind. She knew most Clows could speak to their Bearers, but Sakura had only had them speak to her a few times before. But that might have been because she didn't call out her Clows often.

Still, she looked over at Windy in surprise—more for what she said then that she had said anything. "What do you mean?" she asked.

_It was hidden long ago to protect him_ , **Windy** said.

"Protect him from what?" Sakura asked alarmed.

_We do not know, Mistress,_ **Windy** replied. Her tone was part sad and part apologetic. _The one who protects him now is not complete. She has waited a long time in the nothing for him and you._

"Are you talking about his Clow?" Sakura asked. She had no idea what it was as she had neither asked him, nor had he told her. All she knew was that her uncle thought it was powerful enough to stop her should she go back on her word. She frowned in confusion as she added, "And waiting for me?"

_Mistress_ , **Windy** said as she placed her small hand against Sakura's cheek. _The power to free them is in you._

Before Sakura could ask what she meant by that, the door to Wolf's room burst open. A woman she had never seen before strode inside with a tray of food in her arms. "Hi!" the woman exclaimed. She treated Sakura with the first sincere smile since she had arrived in this dismal mansion. "I'm Ruby," she added as she walked over to the table.

Sakura dismissed **Windy** , but her Clow left her with a lingering whisper of the words. _We believe in you, Mistress!_ Sakura's smile graced her face as she thought of her Clows. Then she turned her attention to the woman as she set the tray on the table without ceremony. There was a mischievous sparkle in her light brown eyes as she flopped onto the chair opposite of Sakura. She propped one of her legs over the other as she flipped her long hair over her shoulder. Her hair was a reddish-brown color with almost unbelievable magenta pink streaks in it. She looked down at her hands and began inspecting her fingernails. "Sorry that your lunch is late," Ruby said as she glanced up at Sakura. A half-smile turned her lips. "Since Wolf usually takes care of everything, it took Mother and I awhile before we remembered that you hadn't eaten yet."

Sakura blinked at her, looked down at the food on the tray, and then lifted her gaze back to the woman again. She meant to introduce herself, but what came tumbling out of her mouth was the question, "Where's Wolf?"

Ruby waved her hand in a breezy and dismissing manner as she said, "Dad sent him and my hubby off on some mission. I got stuck staying here since my Clow is useless in action compared to theirs."

That explained nothing to Sakura as she cocked her head to the side and let out a sigh of confusion. "Dad?" she repeated bewildered.

"My dad's Eriol Reed, you know, the big old Head of the Clan," Ruby said. She placed her finger against her cheek and said, "I guess that makes us cousins, doesn't it?"

"Cousins? Really?" Sakura asked excited. She hadn't thought of Eriol as family per se, and she'd had no idea that he had a wife or children. She couldn't help her grin as she thought that she had someone that she had a connection to in this isolated house.

"You're happy about that?" Ruby asked with a confused smile on her lips and a raised brow. Obviously, she didn't think that Sakura could be happy to know _anyone_ in the house. She must think, by default, everyone in the household had a part in keeping Sakura prisoner here. But, Sakura didn't actually think like that. The only one she considered her jailer was Eriol himself.

"Of course," Sakura said with a smile to reassure the other woman. "I thought I was alone here, but now, I have family." Hopping in her chair because of happiness, she began to eat her lunch. After finishing off one of the small triangular sandwiches, she wiped her fingers on a napkin. Her lips pouted out in thought. Unable to contain her curiosity, she asked, "So, could you tell me about Wolf?"

A strange expression—almost like guilt—crossed Ruby's face. She began to pick at her fingernails. "Wolf is—well, I guess you could say Wolf is sort of my brother," she finished with a slight wave of her hand.

"He's my cousin, too?" Sakura asked horrified for reasons she did not know. All she knew was that she, under no circumstances, wanted to be related to Wolf in any way.

"No, we're not related by blood," Ruby clarified. Sakura let out a breath that she hadn't even realized she was holding in as she let her shoulders relax in relief. She picked up another sandwich and took some bites out of it as Ruby continued, "We…picked him up when he was little." She paused there at the beginning of the sentence as if she wasn't quite sure what word she wanted to use.

Sakura nodded—this made sense to her. The Clow Bearing families would adopt Clow Bearers that were outside the three families, like the Amamiya Family had done with Rika. At least that is what her grandfather told her. "Because he's a Clow Bearer?" she asked.

"You could say that," Ruby replied. Her tone was evasive, though. Sakura frowned at the unusual answer as she took a sip from her cup.

But since this was more information than she had ever gotten from Wolf himself, she figured that she better find out as much as she could. Before Wolf returned and she was back to rambling on about nothing. Speaking of which, she was piqued to ask, "Why is he so closed off?"

Ruby shrugged and it was a few seconds before she actually answered the question. "He lost his memories when he was younger," she admitted. There was another odd, almost guilty look in her eyes as she said this. "He changed after that. Especially after his Clow appeared." Sakura could have sworn that she saw a flash of fear in her eyes as she mentioned the Clow.

"Do you know when he'll be back?" Sakura asked as she finished up her lunch and pushed the plate away from her. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy having Ruby with her. She was, after all, someone who actually held a conversation with Sakura. But she found herself missing Wolf. She'd grown somewhat accustomed to having his presence around.

Ruby checked her watch and bit her bottom lip. She smiled at Sakura as she lowered her arm again and said, "I'd say within the next hour or so."

A commotion from Wolf's room drew their attention. Sakura's stomach made a slight jump inside her in anticipation of seeing Wolf again. But it was clear that Ruby did not share her enthusiasm. Frowning with her expression full of worry and confusion, Ruby stood up and walked to the door. She left it open as she walked into the other room. Sakura jumped to her feet to follow, eager to continue her own mission of befriending Wolf. She may have also been eager to actually leave the room for the first time in three days. But when she entered the other room, Sakura gasped at the sight that met her.

She recognized Yue from her first night here. He was standing with his arms folded across his chest. He watched two men that were unfamiliar to Sakura carry Wolf into the room, still in their arms.

Ruby let them pass before she ran over to where Yue was standing. "What happened?" Ruby asked as she placed a hand on his arm, which—to Sakura's surprise—Yue did not shrug off. Yue had not struck her as the type that liked physical contact.

"The idiot used his Clow," Yue said as he glared at Wolf.

Ruby glanced back at Wolf, who was being laid down on the bed. "On what?" she asked, sounding alarmed. Unsure of what she should do exactly, Sakura walked over to the bed as the men who had carried Wolf in left the room. Wolf looked more peaceful than at any other time Sakura had ever seen him. Sakura felt a breath of relief leave her when she saw his chest rising and falling. Her hand reached out, and she trailed her fingertips along the side of his arm.

Sakura looked up at the two again as Yue answered. "The whole area. I've never seen him use it like that before," Yue bit out. His expression softened as he whispered with a gentler tone, "At first, I thought he'd died."

Ruby let her hand fall back to her side. She looked over at the door and bit her bottom lip before she said in a flat tone, "Father will not be happy."

"No, he will not," Yue agreed.

There was silence for a few seconds. Sakura almost didn't think that they were going to say anything else. So, she sat down on the bed and looked back down at Wolf. She didn't understand what was going on or what was wrong with Wolf. She wanted to ask if he would be okay but didn't want to draw attention to herself. If she did, Ruby or Yue might make her go back into her room. After about a minute of silence, Ruby asked, "How long?"

"I don't know," Yue replied.

Sakura looked back and forth between them. Unable to not know any longer, she finally said, "I don't understand. What happened?"

Yue and Ruby looked at each for a moment. Yue shrugged and turned away. Ruby sighed and said, "Wolf's Clow, while very powerful, takes an immense physical toll on him. Dad doesn't like him to use it, unless he has to."

"Which he didn't," Yue interjected. "I was handling the mission."

Sakura had heard about this before but had never actually experienced it herself. No one in her family other than herself had Clows powerful to take such a serious toll on them. And Sakura herself didn't use her Clows often enough or for big enough jobs for it to happen to herself. "He's going to be okay, right?" Sakura asked worried.

"Since he hasn't killed himself, he should wake up eventually," Yue said with a derogatory note in his tone.

"I'll take care of him until he does," Sakura volunteered. She stood up as she spoke, surprising herself and Ruby and Yue as well as their eyes widened.

"Strange that you should say that." A new voice interrupted and Sakura looked to find Eriol walking in the room. He walked over to the opposite side of the bed from where Sakura was standing. He looked down at Wolf with an expressionless face. But there was a definite emotion that he was not controlling brewing in his eyes. After a few seconds, he lifted his gaze to look at Sakura. "You should be in your room," he stated.

"Sorry, Dad," Ruby said. Sakura was surprised at the breezy tone in her voice. Eriol did not seem like the type of man you used such a casual tone with. "I'd just brought her lunch when they brought Wolf in. She followed me when I came to see what was going on." Eriol looked over at his daughter but didn't say anything.

"Please let me take care of him, Uncle Eriol," Sakura pleaded. Eriol turned his gaze back to her. "I haven't tried to leave or use my Clows. And I won't," she finished. After her talk with **Windy** , she was more determined than ever to befriend Wolf and save him. And save whoever "the one who protects him" was. **Windy** told her that the power was in her. Sakura knew that meant she was the only one who could do it. So, even if she had to stay here as Eriol's prisoner and follow his terms, she would do that for Wolf.

"So, you haven't," Eriol said. There was a different look in his eyes now as he studied her. Sakura thought it might have been confusion. Almost as if he didn't know why she hadn't called out **Firey** and burned his entire house to the ground yet. They stood there, staring at each other from across the bed, for another minute. Finally, Eriol nodded. "Very well. For the time being, the door between your room and Wolf's will remain unlocked. You may come and go between those rooms as you wish."

Sakura beamed at him and exclaimed, "Thank you!"

Eriol twisted his head and narrowed his eyes at her. He looked away without saying anything and started to walk back out of the room. As he crossed the room he said, "Yue, see to it that we get an IV set up in here for Wolf. Ruby, tell your mother about the new arrangement. Also, you will be in charge of Sakura's meals until Wolf wakes up." He left the room with Yue and Ruby trailing behind him. The door closed behind them and Sakura could hear the bolt turning in the lock.

She was alone again with Wolf. Sakura sat back down on the bed and looked down at his face, hoping that he would wake up soon.


	7. Dream and Silence

Feimei watched her mother in silence. When she left after her mother's silent command, she had immediately sought out Wei to get two more rooms set up. Once they were set, she immediately went to her mother, who had retired to the solitude of her sitting room as usual. Her mother had always spent a lot of time in this room, but she had secluded herself here since…that day.

Her father, Shuang, had done the opposite after what happened. He threw himself into his work with fervor that could not be controlled. It wasn't any wonder that he had barely lasted a decade longer than his son. Her father's death had taken another toll on her mother, furthering her reclusiveness. Yelan went outside the complex only a couple of times each year, if that. Fortunately, Shiefa had shouldered the burden their father's death caused. The past few weeks had seen more emotion and activity from Yelan than Feimei had seen in a long time.

Long minutes passed without her mother acknowledging her. Only her training and respect for her mother kept her from broadcasting her anxiety. Or her desire to know what Yelan was thinking. She sat behind Yelan as her mother looked out into the center garden, deep in her thoughts. Feimei could only guess what they were. "I don't know what this means, Feimei," Yelan finally said, almost an hour after Feimei had arrived in the room.

"Even if it has never happened before, what could it mean now?" Feimei asked. She kept her tone as gentle as she could. The subject of her brother was never brought up around Yelan. She could remember waking up that night to her mother's agonized scream. She remembered the stillness that had emanated from Yelan at the funeral. She had only been a little girl, but she had understood exactly what it meant when they lowered that tiny coffin into the ground. So, Feimei had spoken without thinking that afternoon but had been surprised by her mother's calm answer. Because of that, she felt somewhat safe bringing it up again.

And, like earlier, there were a few long quiet moments before her mother answered. "Perhaps **Dream** will give me answers tonight."

"So, you are going to use it?" Feimei asked. She had expected that her mother would help them after the words she had left the Amamiyas. But she couldn't have been completely positive when it came to her mother.

"Yes. It is the only way to know," Yelan said.

"What do you hope to find?" Feimei asked.

Yelan did not answer this time. They sat in silence again as the sun set, welcoming the night. Finally, Yelan stood up and whispered, "The truth," before she left the room without another word. Feimei sat there a while longer, not even sure what she should think about.

* * *

 

Yelan lay down in her bed and called out her Clow. **Dream** appeared over her and Yelan spoke her name. **Dream** changed into the blue butterfly and landed on Yelan's forehead. In an instant, Yelan found herself in the familiar black abyss. It was always present at the beginning of dreams induced by her Clow. A few seconds later, two familiar objects appeared. She had only seen the outline of them the last time **Dream** had used her power on Yelan. A chained wolf, exactly as Sakura had described it, laid underneath a cherry blossom tree in bloom. The wolf appeared to be sleeping as its eyes were closed. The tree was overhanging the wolf…almost as if it was protecting it.

With caution, Yelan walked closer over to the wolf and tree. Pink petals fell from the tree and as they hit the chain tying down the wolf, the chain began to dissolve and break. When Yelan was within a few feet of them, the tree began to glow. It transformed into a heart with a small crown above it and angel wings sprouting from its sides. Circling around the heart were four glowing orbs, each one a different color—blue, red, green, and brown. At the same time, the wolf glowed as well. It morphed into a young girl with silvery-grey hair and wings on the back of her head. She wore a long flowing dress and had an expression of the deepest sorrow on her face. Like the heart, the girl had orbs floating around her, except there were only two of them. One was black while the other was white.

When she first saw them, she thought they might be Clows, but she knew that was impossible. The Li Dynasty had extensive knowledge on every Clow including drawings and names. Yelan knew every one of the Clows and what they looked like. They were not Clows; it could not be. As she watched wondering what they could represent, the winged heart floated down to the girl. The girl lifted up her arms and caught the heart in them. Her expression changed to one of infinite happiness.

Before she could decipher the meaning, the world plunged again into blackness. She knew this meant the dream was over. She sat up as she woke, dismissing her Clow, as her thoughts lingered on what she had seen. When she looked at the window, she could tell dawn was breaking over the horizon. She stepped out of bed, calling her maid to help her dress. Once she was clothed, she dismissed her maid again. She was only half aware of what was going on around her as her mind was focused on her thoughts of the dream. A small suspicion had crept into her mind and she could not dismiss it. No matter how much her heart could not bear to dwell on it.

Before the rest of the house awoke, before the others could come ask her what her dream was, she slipped outside. Yelan walked through the gardens, letting her feet carry her to the destination she had in mind. It was a few minutes before she reached the place she was walking towards: the cemetery of the Li Dynasty. It was another minute or so before she found the marker she was looking for. It didn't take long as it was one of the newest ones there. Only one stone marked a grave younger than this one. Well-tended flowers were growing around it, which made Yelan's lips curl into a small smile. She knew it would have been Wei who would have seen to them. Yelan herself had not been to see the marker since they had lowered the tiny body inside the grave.

As she reached the marker, she kneeled in front of it, trailing her fingers along the carved name. It was the name that she had given him…a name that was causing the thoughts in her mind. The dates on the stone caught her eyes with only four small years between them. "But how could it be?" she whispered to the empty air which gave her no reply. She had held the little body in her arms. She had felt no life inside it. But she had also seen the results…there was no cause of death. He had died without a reason. And yet, perhaps he _hadn't_ , after all.

The tree and the wolf…one clearly meant Sakura, and perhaps the other one really meant... "Syaoran," Yelan whispered, speaking his name for the first time in seventeen years. The name she had given him. The name that meant "little wolf". She had sensed something about Sakura that very day they met…a feeling that they were connected. Perhaps they weren't connected _yet_ , but they were _going_ to be. Perhaps Sakura was _his_ destined one…

She covered her face with her hands. She had feared it to be true and so she had let it be true. But if he was alive…if he hadn't actually died that night… _where was he?_ Yelan let her hands fall into her lap and looked up into the sky. There was a way to find out, a way to completely sure of what had happened that night. It was not in the sky right now, but she knew that the full moon had been last week. She would have to wait about three more weeks before she could use it. It could only be used on a night with the full moon. But when that time came, she would use her other Clow, **Return** , to go back to that night and find out for herself. She should have thought of it before, but she had been too grief-stricken to consider it.

"I am coming, my son," she whispered.

* * *

 

Sakura could tell that Ruby was worried. Each time she greeted Sakura was a little less bright than the time before it. As she brought in meals for Sakura, Ruby's eyes would glance more and more often to Wolf. He had not stirred a single inch since he was brought in. Sakura had stayed in the room the entire time. Though she hovered over Wolf for most of the time, unsure of exactly what she was supposed to do.

She had no real medical knowledge beyond the basics of first aid. (And what she'd seen in movies, but Tomoyo had told her that those weren't accurate anyway.) But she also couldn't bring herself to leave him alone. That first night she had returned to her room to sleep, though she had kept the door open. She had a fitful sleep, waking every few hours in her worried state.

She was tired the next day, but she had not let that stop her from staying by Wolf's side the whole day. She still wasn't sure what she could do for him. (There wasn't even any sweat she could dab from his brow with a wet cloth like she'd seen in movies.) So, she spent most of the time talking to him, like she had before.

Ruby came in twice, once for breakfast and another for lunch. But as evening time rolled around, it was another woman who brought in her dinner. "Good evening," she said as she handed Sakura a tray of food, which Sakura sat down on the armed chair to eat. Ruby usually sat on the dresser as she waited for Sakura to finish eating. This woman remained standing as she turned her gaze toward Wolf and watched him in silence. Sakura didn't know who this woman was, but she gave Sakura a nice warm feeling causing her to trust her. But she gave off an aura that made Sakura not want to interpret her silence, so she ate her meal without speaking.

"You probably know this, but I'm Sakura," she introduced herself as she finished her meal.

"Indeed, I do." A kind and gentle look was in her golden-brown eyes as she looked at Sakura with a small smile on her face. "I am Kaho Reed."

"Ruby's mother," Sakura realized out loud but left unsaid her other thought. She was her uncle Eriol's wife.

Kaho nodded in agreement with her statement with a small smile. But her expression turned sad as she said, "I'm sorry for what has befallen you, Sakura. It is a terrible thing to be separated from your family." Her gaze returned to look at Wolf as she said it.

Sakura tilted her head to the side at that. "Did you know Wolf's family?" she asked, wondering if that was the reason behind her looking at Wolf. When Kaho did not immediately answer, she continued, "Ruby said that you picked him up. I thought that meant you found him as an orphan."

Still, Kaho did not reply but continued to stare at Wolf's silent form. After some time of silence, Sakura assumed that Kaho was not going to answer the question. So, as she stood up with the tray in her hands, she was surprised when Kaho finally sighed. She looked at Sakura again, and, in a tone Sakura could only describe as regretful, said, "No. I cannot say that I knew his family."

Sakura walked over and set the tray on the dresser. Wanting to know more about the woman who seemed like such an unlikely match for Eriol, she asked, "How did you meet my uncle?"

At this, Kaho actually smiled as she said, "He found me." After a moment, though, a heavy air blanketed over her as she said, "That was, of course, before your father left. He knew about my Clows and I assume that's why he picked me out in the first place."

"How did he know?" Sakura asked, as she walked over to the bed and sat down on the right side of it. She had never noticed any way to tell if someone had a Clow or not. She wondered if Yelan Li or her grandfather would know.

Kaho sort of half-smiled as she said, "I don't know. I've never asked." She took walked over to the bed, but she moved to the left side, where Wolf actually lay. She sat down in the small empty space by his side, reaching out to place her hand on Wolf's brow for a bare moment. Sakura could read the concern on her face, but there was another darker emotion that she didn't recognize marring Kaho's features.

"Do you know why Wolf…" Sakura started to ask before she realized that she didn't know how to say what she wanted to ask.

But Kaho seemed to understand anyway. Though, for the first time, she looked actually uneasy, turning her gaze back to Sakura. "When we first brought him here, he couldn't bring out his Clows anymore. Eriol…put him through some rough things to try to help him, but…Wolf doesn't let anyone in." Her answer was quiet and spoken as if she was choosing each word she said with care. In a quiet whisper that Sakura almost didn't hear, she added, "I don't know that he can."

"What do you mean 'rough things'?" Sakura asked.

This time it was clear that Kaho was not going to answer. She turned away from both of them as she stared into the air. "He wasn't always that way," Kaho said finally, but Sakura didn't know if she was talking about Eriol or Wolf.

But she didn't leave. Sakura was eager to find out more about this family that was turning out to have many more sides than she was expecting. "Ruby told me that Wolf lost his memories," she said, saying the first thing she thought.

"He did not _lose_ them," Kaho said. It was said so sharply and in such different a tone than she had used before that Sakura was shocked speechless for a few seconds. Kaho's gaze had turned hard as she pierced Sakura with her eyes.

"Wh-what?" Sakura finally managed to stutter through her shock.

Kaho turned her head to the side, almost as if she were studying Sakura. Though what she was trying to find, Sakura did not know and could not even fathom. "They were _taken_ from him," Kaho clarified finally.

Sakura frowned in confusion. It was clear that was an act by a Clow, but she couldn't think of one that could take memories. Then again, she did not have that much knowledge of the Clows. Finally, unable to contain her curiosity and when it was clear that Kaho was not going to say any more of the subject on her own, Sakura asked, "By who?"

Kaho closed her eyes and took a deep breath with her hands resting stately in her lap. "A man desperate to protect his family," Kaho whispered as she opened her eyes. For a moment, she looked at Wolf again and laid her hand once more upon his brow. There was an unfathomable expression on her face as she gazed at him for a few seconds. She pulled her hand away and lifted her gaze back to Sakura. She couldn't help but be caught in that piercing golden gaze once more. "Perhaps," she said after a few long seconds of silence with the infliction that she was going to say more. But nothing more came from her as she instead pursed her lips together. She stood then and picked up Sakura's tray that she had left on the dresser. "Good luck, Sakura," she said as she left. Sakura thought that was a strange thing for her to say in parting, since she had no idea what Kaho expected her to do or what luck she could need to do it.

She looked at Wolf, who still might as well have been dead he had moved so little. If it wasn't for the steady rise and fall of his chest, Sakura might have thought he had slipped away from them. She didn't understand, well, _anything_ at the moment. She liked her aunt and cousin—it seemed impossible that they had anything to do with her uncle. There had to be more to the story—more to why her uncle was the way he was, more to how Wolf came to them, and most certainly more to Wolf himself.

Frustrated, she fell back onto the pillow but remembered herself as she turned to Wolf. He was undisturbed by what she had done. Rolling to her side, she lay there and watched him. Memories of the dream Yelan's Clow had given her came once again to the forefront of her mind, most prominently the wolf who had been chained. It was safe to assume that the wolf in the dream and this man, Wolf, were meant to be the same thing. And Yelan told her that the wolf might mean someone she was supposed to help.

And he was chained—not perhaps to Eriol, though that might be true—but within himself. She didn't know who or how, but **Windy** said that someone had sealed his heart. And without your heart, how could you _be_ at all?

"Please wake up," she whispered to him. She couldn't help him like this.

Still silence was all that answered.


	8. Intertwining Heartbeats

_Mother…_

The word, foreign to him, floated in his mind as the first moments of consciousness unfolded. He couldn't remember what might have stimulated him to think that particular word. If he had a mother, he did not know who she was. The memories of anything beyond living with Eriol Reed were out of his grasp. He had lost them long ago when he had been four years old. Eriol's wife, Kaho Reed, was the closest person that he could call by that title. But never, not for one single moment, had he ever put Kaho and that word in the same thought.

As the memories of the mission trickled into his thoughts, he opened his eyes. He found himself staring at the ceiling of his own room. He wondered how many hours he had been unconscious. This had been the first time in a long while that using his Clow had actually knocked him out. Usually it afflicted him with extreme tiredness for some hours or at the very most for the rest of the day. When he'd first started summoning **Void** , he used to fall unconscious all the time. Once he'd gotten control over the Clow, this sort of thing had stopped happening. But then again, he had never used it on an area that big before.

He lifted his hand to rub his tired eyes but discovered unexpected resistance. He glanced down at his wrist and found an IV inserted into his arm. Puzzled, he stared at it, unable to understand why it was there.

In that moment, he heard a soft sigh from beside him. His eyes snapped to the side and found Sakura sleeping beside him on top of the sheets, curled up on her side facing him. His first instinct was to get as far away from her as he could. He had never been so close to anyone in his whole life. But something held him to where he lay, and he stared at her peaceful face.

With his right hand trapped by the IV, he reached out with his left hand. With the back of his fingers, he brushed her soft cheek. The moment their skin touched, Wolf felt something deep inside him pound. It was like a resounding painful heartbeat. He heard the word _Master_ spoken in his mind. But it sounded almost like two voices layered on top of one another. The voices sounded familiar, as if from an echo of a forgotten dream.

He snatched his hand back away from Sakura, who hadn't stirred an inch from his touch. He turned away from her and threw the covers off himself. Wolf came to his feet and saw that someone had clothed him in a black sleeveless shirt and cotton pants. He was barefoot, which was not surprising given his current situation.

He wrapped his hand around the IV pole and wheeled it along to the dresser. Crouching down, he pulled open the bottom drawer and reached inside to get a roll of gauze. He ripped off a long strip and put the extra back into the drawer. With a stoic expression, he pulled the IV from his arm. He knew there was no evidence of the pain he felt on his face. Pain was something he'd become familiar with in his term here with Eriol Reed. Once the needle was out, the small hole in his arm immediately started to bleed. He wrapped the gauze around his wrist. Securing the end against his knee, Wolf reached back into the drawer for tape. With practiced ease, he wrapped that around the gauze to keep it from slipping.

"Wolf?"

Sakura's voice sounded panicked. He could hear her almost frantic movements on the bed. He grabbed the needle he had set aside as he pushed himself back up to his feet. He set the needle on the dresser top before he turned to look at her. Sakura stood by the corner of the bed with her hand resting around the bed post. Her green eyes were wide as she stared at him, full of what Wolf could only name as disbelief. For almost a full minute, Sakura stared at him without speaking. Wolf, wondering at her silence since she was usually talking non-stop, furrowed his eyebrows. "What?"

Sakura ran across the room and threw her arms around Wolf's chest. She snaked her arms underneath his own in what was unmistakably a hug. The painful heartbeat pounded deep within him again but was not accompanied by any voices this time. Not expecting her actions, he could not help but fall back a step as she impacted against him, causing him to bump up against the dresser. "Thanks goodness," she exclaimed and there was blatant relief in her voice. "I was almost starting to believe that you wouldn't ever wake up."

Unsure of what to do, Wolf stood there without speaking or moving. Almost as suddenly as she came, she flung herself back away from him. Her face flushed as she stared at the floor and said, "I'm so sorry. I'm so relieved that you're okay. You haven't woken in over two days and—"

"Two days?" Wolf interjected. He folded his arms across his chest as he let his brows furrow together. He thought he'd only been out for a few hours. The fact that Eriol felt the need to hook him up to an IV made much more sense to him.

Sakura nodded, still looking at the floor. "Yes," she said as her lips pouted out and her eyes glanced up at him. "I…well… _we_ were all very worried about you."

Wolf stared at her with incomprehension. He could not understand why anyone would worry about him. No one ever had before. And he'd never seen any of Reeds worried about anything. The door opened, and Ruby glided into the room balancing a tray in one hand. There was a giant smile on her face as she began in a sing-song voice to say, "Good—Wolf!" She cut herself off as her eyes widened in surprise. For a moment, she stood there frozen, but then a sigh escaped her and her shoulders slumped. There was a look in her eyes that Wolf hadn't seen before. Could it actually be _relief_? But she squared her shoulders and her lips curled into a much more familiar smirk. "Father was not pleased that you did not follow his orders," she said. She slid the tray onto the dresser next to where he was standing. She placed her hands on her hips and stared at him.

As he straightened up from where he was still leaning against the dresser, Wolf gave no reply. He expected Eriol's displeasure from the moment the thought of using **Void** had entered his mind. There hadn't been any question about that at the time. He could not imagine that his being out for two days would have improved his disposition at all. He turned his gaze back to Sakura—what about her had made him even think about using it? "Ruby?" Sakura spoke the other woman's name, and she both looked and sounded very confused. Wolf found himself looking at Ruby again to gauge her reaction.

But Ruby ignored her as she kept her gaze on Wolf. "Go," she said. It was only one word, but Wolf understood her command at once. He started to walk towards the door. He knew that since Ruby hadn't told him otherwise, he would find Eriol in his study.

"What? Ruby, no," Sakura broke in as she stepped forward, placing her hand on Wolf's arm. This time there wasn't a reaction to her touch beyond some small warmth in his chest. He said nothing to her, but his gaze did not leave her hand. A moment later it was snatched away. He allowed his eyes to look up at her face and saw the guilt in it as she mumbled an apology at him. That confused him for a moment, because he hadn't actually minded her touch. Before he could think on that more, Sakura turned back to Ruby and continued, "He just woke up. He needs food and…and…rest! Well, maybe not rest and maybe I don't actually know that much about it, but he shouldn't be walking around after what happened!"

"I'm fine," Wolf interjected. His tone was dismissive and automatic. He wouldn't allow himself to succumb to such a negligible weakness like hunger or thirst. Those could wait until after he'd seen Eriol.

With a huff, Sakura strode over to the tray of food resting on the dresser. She gripped the glass in her hand and thrust it at him. "Drink this at least," she said. After another moment, her tone softened and she added, "Please."

He glanced down at the cup full of water and back at her gaze so full of worry and concern. He consented by taking the cup in his hand and gulping it down. And he wondered if it was possible that her cheerful smile had anything to do with why he felt better. He handed the cup back to her and opened his mouth to say something before he realized he didn't know what to say. So, he closed his mouth again and gave a slight shake of his head. Sakura tilted her head to the side. She pierced him with such innocent confusion in her gaze that he almost took a step away from her. Unable to be in the same room as her now, he tightened his jaw and strode past her without another word and out of the room.

* * *

 

She was surprised by his rather abrupt departure. But as the door clicked shut, Sakura turned immediately to Ruby. The other woman avoided her gaze as she grabbed the now empty cup from her hands and said, "I'll go get you some more water."

"Ruby," Sakura said. Ruby paused with her hand on the door handle but didn't say anything. Sakura floundered for a moment, confused on how Ruby's behavior toward Wolf didn't match the concern that she had displayed for the past couple of days. "Why?"

Ruby didn't answer, but she didn't leave either. Finally, she sighed and dropped her gaze to the floor. "There's so much that you don't understand and that I can't tell you," she whispered. "We can't…" She faltered there before continuing, "It's just so…complicated," she finished.

"Why?" Sakura pleaded again because Ruby's answer explained next to nothing to her. She _wanted_ to understand. She _wanted_ to know. But most of all, she _wanted_ to help this family. There was hurt in each of them—even Eriol, as Kaho had hinted.

But it seemed like this wasn't going to happen at that particular moment for this time Ruby didn't answer at all. She left the room without saying anymore, leaving Sakura alone again. Without Wolf to hover over and worry about, she once more was left with nothing to do, like when she had first arrived. She meandered into her room and looked at the deck of cards that Wolf had given her. They were still sitting on the table where she left them. Finding that she couldn't think of anything else to do at the moment, she pulled them out. They took her mind off things for about three minutes before she couldn't concentrate on them any longer.

Sighing, she rested her face in her hands. She needed to talk to someone. Ruby wasn't going to tell her anything. Eriol and Yue were out of the question. While she wasn't completely sure about Kaho, she was inclined to think that she would be the same as her daughter. She needed to know more about what had happened in the past—what it was that she didn't know. Which she was coming to see went far beyond what anyone else had told her before.

Sakura sat up straight as an idea occurred to her. There _was_ someone she could talk to. In fact, there were _four_ someones. **Windy** had told her in a way that she knew something of what was going on and what Sakura could do to help.

So, Sakura called out her Clows. They appeared at the same time: **Windy** with a gentle smile, **Earthy** with impassive stoic, **Firey** with a cheerful smirk, and **Watery** with serene grace. That is, until **Firey** and **Watery** noticed each other and began to glare at one another. "Please don't," Sakura said to them.

She turned her attention to **Windy** and asked, "What did you mean before about Wolf's heart?"

_As Clows, we have a sense of each other_ , **Windy** said in her airy, light voice.

**Earthy** 's deep unwavering voice seemed to rebound through her mind as she said, _But there is only so much we can see_.

_Your destinies are intertwined_ , **Firey** interjected in a boisterous tone. _There's no doubt about that_.

Sakura blinked at the Clow. "How do you know?" she asked.

_You are our Mistress_ , **Earthy** said as if no other reason was needed than that. And it might be true that there was not.

"But…" Sakura frowned as she tried to come up with a way to speak her thoughts. Finally, she said, "You tell me I have the power inside me to help him. But how do I use it? What do I do?"

_Do? You don't have to_ do _anything_ , **Watery** stated with some exasperation.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked. She almost threw her arms up into the air and deciding that her Clows were being unhelpful.

_Stay near him_ , **Windy** said, placing her tiny hand on Sakura's cheek. _That is all you have to do. Be with him and be yourself._

* * *

 

There was an anxious air within the room. Feimei leaned against the arm of the couch with her chin resting in her hand. She had come to this room that morning, expecting to find her mother sitting in it drinking tea. But she arrived to find the room empty. She'd gone to Wei, but the faithful man had not seen Yelan that morning. They called Yelan's personal maid at that point. From her, they learned Yelan had woken, gotten dressed, and went out. A cursory search of the house and grounds was made, but they were unsuccessful in locating her mother.

Knowing that she would come back when she wanted to, Feimei returned to her mother's sitting room to wait. Only, when she arrived, she had found Fujitaka and his family waiting. Doing the only thing she could think of, Feimei assured them that Yelan would join them shortly. Hoping that she was right, Feimei had sat down on the couch. But as the minutes passed, the tension built as Yelan did not appear.

At last, almost half an hour later, the door opened and Yelan walked into the room. Wei was close behind her with a tray of tea in his hands. Never to be rushed, Yelan sat with slow grace and accepted Wei's offer of her teacup. With calm movements, she took a small sip of the drink.

"Well?" Toya finally bit out. Every bit of his impatience and frustration was apparent in that word.

There was a moment's pause while Yelan let the cup down from her lips and set it on the table in front of her. "I believe Sakura is safe for the time being," she said.

Fujitaka, Nadeshiko, and Tomoyo all let out audible sighs of relief. But Toya actually became tenser. His arms folded across his chest, and he narrowed his eyes in Yelan's direction. "What do you mean 'for the time being'?" he asked. The others in his family glanced at him, looking worried and exasperated.

"I do not know Eriol Reed personally," Yelan said. She gave the man a small glance of her eyes. "But I am sure she will be safe long enough."

"Long enough for what?" Tomoyo asked, tilting her head.

This time Yelan did not immediately answer. Feimei noticed at last a certain almost _peace_ about her that Feimei had not seen in a long time. "Mother, where were you this morning?" she asked as she sat up straighter.

Yelan looked at her, an actual small _smile_ on her lips, as she answered, "I went to Syaoran's…grave." She frowned at that last word. Feimei did not bother with thinking about what that could mean as she gasped. Not only had her mother _said his name_ , she'd been to the one place on the whole _planet_ she avoided at all times. Feimei didn't even bother to _think_ about looking there that morning. No one had.

"Feimei," Yelan said, but then she pursed her lips and cut off her own words. Instead, she looked at the Amamiyas and said, "There is something I must see. Something I must know. But I have to wait three weeks to find it. You are welcome to stay here or return to Japan in the interim. But at the end of that time, if I am right, I will help you get Sakura back. But not a moment sooner."

The four of them turned to each other and then held a quick conference. To Feimei, it looked like it consisted of Fujitaka and Nadeshiko whispering and Toya shaking his head. Finally, Toya folded his arms across his chest again and nodded. It was Nadeshiko who turned back and said to Yelan, "If you are sure it won't bother you, we'll stay here until you're ready."

Yelan nodded and said, "Very well. Feel free to go anywhere in the house and grounds. If you wish to go out to the city, let any one of the servants know and they will have a car prepared for you."

It was clear that there was a dismissal in her words. So, it was no surprise when Fujitaka smiled and thanked her before he led his family out.

Feimei waited for a few quiet minutes before she said, "Mother?"

"I think the truth was not quite what I expected," Yelan cryptically answered. "I scarcely allow myself to hope, but I must know the real answer, whatever that may be."


	9. Finding the Truths

Wolf did not understand her. And that, in turn, made him unable to understand himself—at least as far as she was concerned.

Almost three weeks had passed since he had woken up after using his Clow. Since he had woken up, Eriol had allowed Sakura anywhere in the house and grounds as long as Wolf was with her.

And it didn't seem to matter to her how much distance he tried to keep between them, Sakura bounced right back. It had started out slowly, nothing more than her usual smiles and chattering. But all that was interspersed with small touches. It was her hand on his arm to gain his attention. It was her taking his hand to turn him in a certain direction while they were outside.

Soon, they all came more and more frequently, almost overwhelming him. That was strange in itself because he had never felt overwhelmed before. In fact, he had never felt _anything_ before. He hadn't known why, but though he had, of course, heard of all the emotions, he had never experienced them himself. He knew this and he knew that Eriol knew it—the man had been the one to figure it out first.

He remembered the day that Eriol had finally noticed it. There was a curious expression of confusion mixed almost with delight on his face. But Wolf found himself feeling twinges within himself since he woke up when he was around Sakura. He couldn't explain it—he had no experience with which to name the twinges. He only knew that he had felt a flash of what felt like fire inside him when Eriol instructed him to leave on a mission. He could only describe what felt like a _lift_ in his chest half the time that Sakura smiled at him.

There had been nothing like those painful poundings inside him that he had felt that first day. Sometimes he felt like something was cracking inside him when she got close. It happened again last night when she had hugged him before escaping into her room to sleep.

"Wolf?"

Her voice filtered into his thoughts, bringing him back to the present. She was staring at him with her sparkling green eyes, now wide with concern. Concern for _him_ , though no one had bothered with that before. She was kneeling in front of a bank of flowers. She always wanted him to bring her out to the garden, spending as much time in it as she could. Some days she would sit and talk to him about her life before this. Other days, she was quieter as she would study each flower with care.

"Yes?" he said in reply.

Sakura's smile was quick and bright and easy as it blossomed on her face. She gave him a small shake of her head and a shrug as she said, "Nothing. You seemed to be kind of spacing out there for a bit."

Wolf had no reply for that, so he said nothing. He felt—how strange it was still to even _think_ that word—something else new. Something he had not experience before. Was it possible that this was what _surprise_ felt like? After all, no one had accused him of "spacing out" before as he had always been vigilant in everything that he did.

But it was clear that Sakura had not been expecting an answer. She was probably used to his silence by now as he never said very much to her. She turned her gaze back to the flowers with a smaller smile on her face and continued to speak. "Did I ever tell you that my mother's Clow is **Flower**?" she asked.

Wolf did not remember her mentioning such a thing. He supposed that it made sense due to the fact that she loved to be out in the garden. It was something she might have done with her mother a lot. "No," he replied.

Sakura nodded as she fingered a flower with small pink petals. "She was named after a flower, like me. My aunt Sonomi once told me that my mother always said if she was going to have a little girl, she would name her Sakura. So, here I am!" she finished with her wide, bright grin again. And Wolf felt the _lift_ within his chest again.

But the smile slid off her face as she looked back at the flower again and brushed her finger against its petals. Wolf narrowed his eyes at her. She had not looked that lost and melancholy since the first few days of her confinement. Yet, he knew neither what thought had befallen her nor what he could do about it.

She giggled and pushed herself back up to her, looking like her normal self again. "Well, we should be getting back inside. It's almost dinner time and..." She cut off all of the sudden and looked down at her arm. Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened in what even Wolf could identify as shock.

Wolf looked down as well and found that it was _his own_ _hand_ that had gripped her arm. It stopped her from moving any further. For a moment, both of them stood there looking at the scene. It was the first time that Wolf had ever initiated contact between them. Abruptly, Wolf ripped his hand away from her arm and folded it across his chest with his other arm. He understood himself less and less it seemed the more time he spent with her. All he had known his whole life was the empty void of nothing. There was no need for anything else as he learned to use his Clow and to work for Eriol. He had no idea what had caused him to reach out to her.

"Wolf?" she asked as he turned his gaze away from her. He could feel the soft touch of her fingertips brushing across his arm. When he said nothing, he felt her grip tighter on his arm; it was nothing that she hadn't done before. But then she reached her free hand up to his cheek and gently pushed his face to force him to look at her. Something tightened within him as she did so and he knew it was because she had never touched his face before.

As their gazes met, he knew that she had said his name again in that same concerned questioning tone. But all he was aware of was once again the sound and feel of a painful heartbeat within him. This one was accompanied by the soft whisper of women's voices, like the first one had been. They spoke in such a quiet hushed tone that he couldn't make out what they had said. In that moment, it was almost as if the world itself had faded away. He was aware of nothing more than the whisper within him and Sakura's gaze.

But it stopped as the world came back after a moment. Wolf stepped back out of her hands, and she let them slip back down to her side. He was aware of the drop in her shoulders and her crestfallen expression, knowing there was something that he had done wrong. At this moment, there was nothing more he could do. The brief stint of emotions was over. Though he was aware of the fact that he had caused those down feelings in Sakura, he no longer felt anything once more. Still, he wanted to give her something. "You looked sad," he said in explanation of why he had reached out to stop her.

She perked up at his words, unaware that he had nothing else for her. She laughed as she gazed up at the sky for a second before nodding her head at him. "Yeah," she drawled. "I was thinking, you know, wondering if I was ever going to see them again." Her smile remained, but even Wolf could see the sadness that now rested in her eyes. "I want to keep my promise to Eriol and I want…" She trailed off as she bit her bottom lip and lowered her gaze to the ground. After a moment of indecision, she lifted her gaze. "And I want to stay with you, Wolf." Her eyes blazed with determination.

And Wolf, who thought he had nothing left to give her, found a sliver of a reaction within him at her words. "Why?" he asked her, not knowing where the question came from.

"Because I care about you," she said. "You're my friend and I want to help you. I know…" she faltered as she almost reached out her hand to him but stopped. "I know that something happened to you. I don't know what it was, but I feel like I can heal you. That I _have_ to heal you. I can't explain it more than that," she finished with a small shrug.

She stepped closer to him, until they could have been touching each other if either one of them leaned even the slightest bit towards each other. But there she stopped. "Will you let me help you?" she whispered with her wide genuine and innocent eyes.

Wolf found himself unable to answer, bound by her gaze once again. For now, he saw something else in her eyes, something that he did not recognized. Somehow, he still knew that it was echoed and resonated in himself. He did not know, could not fathom, how this one girl could enter his life like a whirlwind. How she could somehow change everything about himself that he thought he knew. Almost unaware of what he was doing, he felt his lips open and heard his own voice say in reply, "Yes."

* * *

 

She breathed in as she looked up out into the night. The world was all aglow and bathed in the light from the full moon that hung in the sky. There was not a cloud in sight to obscure even a single spot of that pale white light.

Now, it was time at last to use her Clow.

Yelan stepped back into her room and slid the door shut behind her, blocking out the celestial light. On that first day, she had found it far too easy to believe that it might be possible for him to still be alive. In the time since then, she had schooled herself back into pushing that hope away as much as she could. She did not think that she could survive if she turned out to be wrong.

She was alone in her room, dressed in her clothes still. She knew that she would not sleep this night. Though the amount of time she wanted to see did not equal the number of hours still left in the night, it did not matter. Her Clow would still use up the rest of the hours of the night. It was the same thing with **Dream.** Though those visions might be short, she was never aware of more than the time the dream took.

She laid a cushion down on the center of her carpet, away from any of the other furniture. She knelt onto it, closing her eyes as she summoned her Clow. Though she could not see it, she knew that her Clow was a young female dressed in a long robe holding a blue clock. " **Return** ," she said.

She did not feel anything other than a soft whirl of wind around her. She opened her eyes and knew that she had arrived exactly when she wanted to be. This was evident by the golden sheen of the world, exactly as it had been that night.

Yelan was unaffected by **Time** as she might have been as she was not actually there. She was a spectator in the events around her, unable to change or affect anything around her. Her body was, in actuality, still kneeling on that cushion in her room in her own time. Wei would make sure that no one would disturb her, as that might cause her to come back to herself before she was ready. She had to remain long enough to see what had happened.

Immediately, she went to Syaoran's room, walking through walls as they also did not affect her as she was. She arrived there shortly, as he was only a few rooms down the hall from her bedroom. Her past self and her husband were in the room that had become her tea room in the present. When she entered, she breathed a sigh of relief when she found him sleeping peacefully on his bed. She was not too late to see what happened. Tears sprung into the corners of her eyes as she watched him, looking as she had seen him that night when she put him to bed.

Only a few seconds passed before two people entered the room hand in hand through one of the walls. Yelan saw the Clow **Through** hovering over the man's shoulder, which would be how they walked through walls. They walked over to the bed and the girl said, "Oh, Father, he's so cute and adorable."

Yelan had a flash of possessive anger splice through her at the girl's words, but she could do nothing about it. "Ruby, that's not important," the man said to her and Yelan perked up. Now, she at least knew one of their names.

"Sorry, Father," Ruby said not sounding like it at all. Both of them froze when the sheets started rustling as they all looked back at Syaoran. "Father, he's not frozen," Ruby added sounding shocked.

Syaoran sat up, rubbing his eyes, and Yelan felt a rush of affection. She would have given everything in that moment to be able to gather him in her arms. His hand fell and his expression turned very stern—not unlike her own she noted with a small amount of pride. He had noticed his two unwelcome visitors. "Who are you? You don't belong here." He said the words in that same serious and authoritative voice she'd heard him use with Meilin all the time. **Light** and **Dark** appeared next to him and they fixed Ruby and her father with glares like ice.

The man chuckled as he reached into his pocket. He took out a small white cloth. "Do it now, Ruby," he ordered. He swiftly closed the distance between himself and Syaoran. Her son was beginning to say, " **Da** —" but was cut off as the man covered his small mouth with the cloth. **Light** and **Dark** buzzed around their master, helpless to give help without their names spoken. They disappeared as Syaoran's little body went limp and his eyes slowly closed. Whatever had been on that cloth (probably some type of anesthesia) had taken effect. The man caught him in his arms as he pulled the cloth away. Yelan could see his small chest rising and falling, so she knew Syaoran was not dead at this point.

"All right, Father," Ruby answered and she even sounded a little bit reluctant to Yelan. A Clow appeared in front of her and Yelan gasped as she recognized it. It was very distinctive as it was the only Clow that had two bodies. Two childlike bodies donned yellow clown-like outfits, one with a blue tuft of hair on its forehead and the other with a pink. It was the Clow **Twin**. And Yelan had a sort of horrific certainty that she knew what had happened now. All she could do was stand here and watch as it played out.

The man laid the unconscious Syaoran on the bed and turned to the girl. "Remember," he said. "A _lifeless_ copy."

"I _know_ , Father," Ruby said with an exasperated tone that Yelan could hear and a roll of her eyes. " **Twin**!" she called out to activate its powers. **Twin** hopped over Syaoran and landed on his stomach. A moment later, there was another Syaoran lying on the bed next to her own son. This one's eyes were open and glazed over, like she remembered finding him all those years ago. The man lifted up the copy's arm and let it drop, nodding his head.

"Good job, Ruby," he said as he picked up the copy and laid it on the floor. **Twin** disappeared as he then picked up the real Syaoran. He slung the child over his shoulder and grabbed Ruby's hand again. He called out **Through** 's name again to activate its powers, and they left the same way they had come. Yelan followed, determined to see this to the end. They ran all the way outside to where a tall woman waited for them, **Time** hovering in front of her—this must be his partner. **Through** disappeared and then **Fly** appeared in front of the man. It transformed into a giant bird, which the group climbed onto before the golden sheen to the world disappeared as **Time** did. And Yelan could only stand there and watch as they took her son—her _living_ son—away.


	10. Safe

Feimei flipped through a magazine, early in the morning. She wished that something exciting would happen. Or at the very least, wished that that scrumptious Toya would walk into the room. As she reached the end of the magazine she set it down, blowing air out of her lips. She decided to go and find Tomoyo. The two of them had strung up a rather good friendship during the time the younger woman had stayed here.

The door was flung open before she could even stand up. Feimei looked up with surprise to find her mother standing there in the doorway. Her mother usually acted with grace and decorum at all times. She did not go around flinging doors open. But then Feimei noticed her mother's face was paler than normal and she was breathing in and out heavily. It was as if she had run a great distance which was something else that her mother did not do. Yet, there was a sense of wonder in her eyes that Feimei had not seen there in a long time.

"Mother, are you alright," Feimei asked as she scrambled to her feet.

Yelan took a few steps into the room before she gracefully and slowly fell to the floor on her knees. She whispered what Feimei thought sounded like "Syaoran". Alarmed, Feimei raced over to her mother and crouched down in front of her. "Are you alright," Feimei asked again. "Should I go get Wei?"

Her mother grasped her arm in a vice-grip—Feimei was shocked by the strength of it. "Syaoran is alive," Yelan murmured.

Many emotions flashed through Feimei at that: disbelief, worry, and hope to name a few. But there was such a certainty and a happiness in that tone that Feimei had not heard in her mother in so long. "Alive?" she repeated, unable to think of anything else to say.

"Yes," Yelan said. "They took him…used **Twin** to make a copy…but my baby, _my son..._ " She trailed off and she looked into Feimei's eyes. To her great surprise, Yelan's lips were formed into a smile. Not a small smile or a smirk or anything else, but an actual true and happy smile. "Syaoran is alive, Feimei," she repeated breathless.

Feimei's mind whirled as she took that in. He would be a man now, twenty-one years old, probably as serious as ever though. So many things they had missed out on and Father... Neither one would know about the other. "But why didn't he ever come home?" she asked. "He has two of the strongest Clows in existence. He should have been able to come back to us by now!"

Yelan stiffened at those words and her back straightened. This was much more like her normal self, Feimei noted with some relief. "I'm not sure," she said but she said it in such a tone that gave Feimei the feeling that she might have an idea. "But we have to find him."

* * *

 

Eriol stepped up to the window of his study, making sure to stay far enough back that he would not be visible to those outside. Wolf and Sakura were outside in the garden. After the incident with Wolf, he'd given her free reign on the provision that Wolf was with her. He did this because he was curious at what she would do. To his surprise, she looked pleased with not only her new boundaries but also his choice of escort.

It baffled him to no end that she was actually keeping her word and remaining here. If their positions were reversed, he would have used all the powers at his disposal to escape at the first opportunity.

Yet, here she was a month later and showing no signs of wanting to leave anytime soon.

With a frown on his face, he crossed his arms in front of his chest as he watched them. He had noticed the change in Wolf in the past few weeks—it was almost unnoticeable, but Eriol could tell. Before Sakura arrived, Wolf had been completely emotionless. There was no happiness, no fear, no anger. Nothing that could be called an emotion was within him at all. But now, there were the smallest traces of emotions appearing here and there. It was nothing big, nothing anyone else might even notice. Yet, Eriol could see it in the slight downturn of Wolf's lips when Eriol ordered him out on a mission. He could see it in the flash of something in his eyes when Eriol came to speak with Sakura.

But this, what he observed outside his window now, was something else entirely. Sakura was speaking to him; Eriol couldn't hear what she was saying. But the expression on Wolf's face was something he could not ignore. It wasn't that the boy was smiling or anything so different, but there was a sort of _relaxed_ expression on his face. He wondered if it was possible that something within Sakura was reaching something in Wolf. If she was awakening the long-buried emotions that had disappeared from the boy.

For he hadn't always been that way—not even when he had first arrived here. Eriol slipped back into the memories of that day as he watched them.

_Eriol stared at the small boy, whom they had kept unconscious the entire trip home. "What are you going to do now?" Kaho asked him._

" _He's too old to completely forget on his own and we can't risk him using his Clows against us," Eriol replied. "So, I will have to make him forget." His third Clow appeared next to him. It was a small woman with short hair, wearing a checkered jester-like outfit with a large two-pointed hat. A large white ruffle was around her neck and below it on her chest was a red oval jewel. She held a white cloth between her hands. " **Erase** ," Eriol said._

**_Erase_ ** _turned into a cloud of grayish fog and floated over to the small boy. The cloud blanketed him for less than a minute before she returned to her humanoid form. She gave a small bow to Eriol before she disappeared again. Eriol looked at Kaho, who frowned down at the boy. "What are you thinking, Kaho?" he asked as he stood up to leave the room. They could do nothing more until he woke up._

_Kaho shook her head. "It is nothing, Eriol," she said. "I will send for you when he wakes up."_

It was hours later that he was informed the boy had woken up at last. When he walked into the room, he found the boy sitting up with a very solemn look on his face. At the time, he had resisted the urge to chuckle. He was so very much a Li. He had noted that the moment the boy had used that tone with him back at the Li home. Kaho sat in a chair, observing the situation in silence. Eriol walked over and sat down next to the boy. It was then that he told the boy his name was Wolf—never again would the name Syaoran be mentioned in the boy's presence. He told him of the Clows. Told him that he was part of the Reed Clan. Told him that the Li Dynasty were their enemies. Told him— _lied to him_ —about how he had lost his memories. He told Wolf that there had been an accident.

In the days that followed, Eriol had tried everything to get Wolf to bring out **Light** and **Dark** but each failed. It got to the point of near torturing the boy into it. He was so desperate to have the power under his control. And what answered him was a power that he had not expected—the **Void** —one that he was never sure was ever under control.

However, on that day that **Void** answered the boy, Wolf had completely shut down. It had surprised them all to watch him shut down and blank out. He could deliver fatal blows with his Clows with no change of expression at all. But now, there was that definite change in him, and Eriol did not like not knowing what that meant.

But as long as he had the boy, he knew that his family, at least, was safe.

* * *

 

Yelan was impatient. It was a rather unfamiliar emotion for her—growing up she had learned how to remain calm and composed at all times. But now, here she was standing in her tea room, barely managing to restrain herself from drumming her fingers on the chair she was resting her hand on or tapping her foot against the floor as she waited for Wei to bring the Kinomotos to her and Feimei. Meilin was also in the room, having been summoned first. When she came in she gave a brief questioning look at Feimei, who had only answered with a smile. Since then, the young woman gave no other sign that she wondered or cared why she was there at all.

Yelan allowed herself a small smile because she knew that would soon change.

At long last, the door opened and they walked in. The young lady, Tomoyo, led the way in behind Wei, looking almost completely composed. A small shade of apprehension and worry that had been on her looks since she arrived betrayed her graceful expression. She gave Feimei a happy smile of greeting as she saw the older woman, which Feimei exchanged in kind. Yelan was aware of the friendship the two had formed during the Kinomotos' stay in her home.

Close at Tomoyo's heels, Toya entered with his jaw locked into a frown and his arms folded across his chest. Unlike Tomoyo, he displayed his worry at the situation with his sister with force. He looked as if he was always ready to take on some enemy in his sister's defense. After his son and niece, Fujitaka came in with Nadeshiko's arm wrapped around his own. The two parents looked as Tomoyo did rather than Toya. There was only a faint worry around their very edges. There was no missing the love between the two, even as they smiled their greeting at her.

Yelan wanted to wait for everyone to settle themselves around the room before she spoke. Yet, it turned out that she was not the one to break in the conversation at all. "What's this about?" Toya demanded with his eyebrows furrowed before she could even say anything.

Yelan frowned in annoyance. The boy had been nothing but ungracious his entire stay here. She supposed it was understandable as he had to be worried about his sister. And she did get the impression that he was actually a nice man, except when it involved Sakura being in danger.

Still, she did not take kindly to being spoken to like that. She raised her chin to say something to him, but she was interrupted in her attempt once again.

His mother placed a gentle hand on his arm. "Please, Toya," was all Nadeshiko had to say before her son looked away awkwardly. Now there was a small amount of shame mixed in his expression, but he said nothing more. Yelan suspected he was a little too stubborn to actually apologize.

"Please tell us what you have discovered," Fujitaka said kindly, as he did everything else.

Yelan looked down at the floor as she tapped her finger on the back of the chair as she gathered her thoughts. She looked at Meilin, moved her gaze to Feimei before turning finally settling on the Kinomotos. "Three weeks ago, the vision I received from **Dream** caused me to think that something I had thought to be true for a long time may have been in actuality a farce to mislead me."

She pressed her lips together as she paused there, berating herself again for allowing it to be so. It had been her fault. If only…she mentally shook her head. There was no more time for regrets or what might have been. She continued to speak, "I asked for your patience because I could not find out the truth until last night. My second Clow, **Return** , allows me to be witness to any past even that I so choose, but it can only be used on a night when the moon is full. And I confirmed that I had indeed been tricked. My son, Syaoran, was not in fact killed that night seventeen years ago."

A loud (but expected) gasp accompanied by the sound of a crashing chair reverberated through the room. "What?" Meilin said in an incredulous tone of voice. Her eyes were shining and her expression was part disbelief, part anger, and part hopeful. "It can't…really?" Her voice was so small and quiet at that last word, as if she couldn't allow herself to believe Yelan's words.

"Yes," Yelan responded, leaving no room for argument. "I used my Clow to see the events that happened the night we thought he was killed. Two people, a man and a girl, entered his room. They knocked Syaoran unconscious, and then the girl used **Twin** to make a lifeless copy of my son. It was a clever trick, as otherwise an organic being made by **Twin** would fade." She stopped speaking as she remembered the horrible reality she had thought of while waiting for everyone to arrive. A tightness squeezed her expression as she looked at her daughter and niece. "I cannot say for certain that he remains alive today, but I _am_ certain that he was alive when the man took him away. However, it is hard to believe that they would go to all that trouble only to take his life at a later time." Both Meilin and Feimei nodded, showing their understanding of Yelan's words with their expressions.

Fujitaka spoke up, drawing everyone's attention with his words. "Describe the man to me," he said. His tone was quiet but urgent. Yelan did as he asked, watching as a sad frown grew ever more present on his face as she did so. He nodded when she finished. "I can't be completely positive because I did not see him myself, but I believe it was my brother, Eriol Reed."

Yelan nodded her head in acceptance as her shoulders slumped in resignation. "Then, as I suspected, it was the Reed Clan that did this," she whispered. A fire rose within her—she felt as if she could kill the man that had done this to her son, to her family.

"Yes," Fujitaka agreed also looking resigned. Yelan remembered that now her family was not the only one that had been hurt by the Reed Clan. It had taken her son from her and now it had taken the Kinomotos' daughter from them as well.

Yelan took about one second to make her decision on what she should do now. "Wei," she said to the man, who had remained in the room, ever ready to serve her. She noted that the man's smiled was a little bit wider than it might have normally been. Having served the Li Dynasty for so long, he had been the one placed in charge of Syaoran (and by extension, Meilin) when the boy had been born. Clearly, her family members were not the only ones to be happy about his possible return. "Contact the airport," she ordered. "I want my plane prepared as soon as possible."

"Yes, my Lady," Wei replied as he bowed himself out the door.

Knowing that she only knew three of the Clows currently in possession by the Reed Clan, she was going to have to have all the Clows at her disposal as she could. She looked at her daughter. "Feimei, contact your sisters and have them meet us either at the airport or London." She knew that Shiefa was currently at the Hong Kong building, running the operations of their company here. Both of the twins were already in Europe at their two offices there. And while Shiefa did not have a Clow herself, Yelan did not even think of leaving her oldest daughter out of going to get Syaoran. "Quickly, I plan to leave within the hour if possible," she added.

Feimei came to her feet and left the room with Meilin close on her heels. "What are you doing?" Toya asked. He startled Yelan as she had allowed her mind to wander, wondering if there was anything else she needed to do. And, now that she had come to a decision, she had almost forgotten that the Kinomotos were there.

She allowed the fire of rage within her burn in her eyes at them. "If England is where my son is, then that is where I will go," she said. "I will bring him back, even if I have to lay waste to the entire city. So, I suggest you hurry," she finished as she pierced them with her gaze.

They all looked taken aback by this abrupt order. "Why?" Tomoyo asked.

Yelan arched her eyebrow at them as she asked, "You want Sakura back, correct?" She waited for their almost nod before she said, "You may come if you choose, but be warned that I will not wait for you."

The Kinomotos exchanged glances for only half a second. Toya, with an actual grin on his face (though the happiness of the grin was almost overcome by the complete fierceness his expression showed), assured her, "We'll come."

"You have ten minutes."


	11. Confliction and Confusion

Every Clow Bearer in the world was now in the same city at the same time. It was an event that had not happened in such a long time that Meilin might have taken a moment to wonder at it. But she had no desire because her focus was on the reason why they were all here in the first place.

Syaoran was alive.

The thought replayed over and over in her mind since she first found out. It was so overwhelming and all-consuming that nothing else could take its place.

_Syaoran was alive_.

Meilin didn't think that was an idea that she could ever get tired of saying. And soon… _soon_ she would see him. They were driving through the streets of London. The family had separated into four sleek black town cars Yelan had rented at the airport. Meilin was in the same car as her aunt and Misaki Amamiya. Along with the twins, the rest of the Amamiya family met them at the London airport. They intended to join their assault on the Reed Clan.

Soon, the buildings on one side of the street gave way to a tall grey wall. It reminded Meilin of the walls of their home in Hong Kong. On the top of the wall were wrought iron spikes, a clear sign that the people who lived there were not looking for visitors. Meilin doubted that anyone alive could jump that wall alone. Her mother might have been able to because she had the Clow, **Jump**. Unfortunately, her mother had never recovered from Meilin's difficult birth before coming down with a series of increasingly worse cases of pneumonia. In the end, she lost her life when Meilin was six years old.

Then, her father abandoned her at her Aunt Yelan's when he jumped at the chance to work at the American branch. That was the final straw for Meilin. It was too many losses in a row for her younger self--Syaoran, her mother, her father. She had found it so hard to reach out to others after that. She spent a nominal amount of time with her cousins, but they were too much older than her and dealing with their own family falling apart. So, Meilin had turned to her Clow and spent much of her time training with her. But that was all different now.

Because Syaoran was alive.

Soon, the wall turned into a black iron gate that Meilin recognized from her previous visit with Sakura. Meilin threw open the car door before it had even stopped. The moment her feet hit the ground, she raced towards the guard box to the side of the gate. The guard inside stepped out and began to protest, but Meilin knocked him out with a few well placed punches. Behind her, the cars slid to a stop and as Yelan stepped out she said, "Good work, Meilin."

As the rest of the group piled out of the cars and gathered around the front of the gate, Toya asked, "Now what?"

"We must assume that they know we are here," Yelan answered. "That guard could have alerted them before he came out." She was silent for a moment before she turned to the twins. "Fanren. Fuutie. We need cover. Make sure the city does not realize we are here. It is best that we continue the secret of the Clows. But I will not hesitate," she added at the end. Her gaze was steely as she stared at the far mansion in front of him. Meilin got the feeling that those words were not for anyone present.

Meanwhile, her twin daughters nodded and said, "Yes, Mother." They called out their Clows, **Rain** and **Cloud** , which were almost identical in their looks. Both were young girls and rode on clouds but **Rain** was light blue in color while **Cloud** was light lavender. **Rain** had a blue teardrop shaped jewel resting on her forehead underneath her jester's hat. **Cloud** 's jewel was an oval and fluffy hair covered her head.

Fanren and Fuutie called out their names at the same moment. The Clows flew up into the sky, and except for the land that belonged to the Reed Clan, great purple clouds began to form in what had been a clear sky that day. The clouds obscured all the sunlight. A heavy rain began to fall down while a thick fog rolled in over the land where the clouds blocked the sky. Now, unless someone was in the area surrounding the mansion, they would not be able to see what was going on.

Yelan gazed about in approval. "Keep it up as long as you can." The two women nodded in response as their attention was on the sky above them. Yelan looked up and down the group and ordered, "Non-combatants remain here. Meilin, the gate, if you please."

Meilin raised her chin and called out her Clow. **Fight** appeared in front of her. Once Meilin called out her name, the Clow shrunk into a dot of light that flew right into Meilin and merged with her. Though she could not see it, she knew now that her eyes were a glowing pale blue, as they always were when **Fight** combined her powers with her. She strode up to the gate and kicked at it. But even with their combined strength, the gate remained steadfast. Meilin began yelling in frustration as she kicked at it again.

"Please, if I may help?"

Meilin turned to look at who had spoken and found that it had been the sophisticated young woman who had come with the Amamiya Family. Meilin could not remember her name at the moment, but at her shoulder hovered the Clow **Power**. Once she saw that, Meilin nodded and the woman said, " **Power**." The diminutive Clow flew over to Meilin and landed on the top of her head. Meilin could feel the rush of strength that flooded her from the Clow. Grinning, she kicked at the gate one more time.

The gate went exploding in on its hinges. Both sides of the gates flew into the yard skidding to a halt far from the entrance.

The stunned silence that followed was broken by a bark of laughter from Toya as he said, "Let's go." Meilin and Feimei led the group in as they had the strongest offensive Clows of the group. Meilin did not stop as she ran across the yard to see who had followed them and who had remained behind.

There was only a whisp of sound that gave a small warning, but it was enough that Meilin yelled, "Down!" to the rest of the group as a volley of arrows shot at them.

" **Wood**!" she heard a deep voice saying—she thought it might have been the elder head of the Amamiyas. Vines sprung from the ground in front of them, catching most of the arrows within their grasp. Once the arrows stopped, the vines crumbled to the earth, allowing the group to move forward. Meilin could see four people standing right in front of the house. One of the men matched the description of Eriol Reed. The other, who had long silver hair, was the one with the bow in his hand and most likely the one that had shot at them. Behind him, Meilin could make out the Clow, **Arrow**.

The two women looked similar with almost the same color of long hair. Neither they nor Eriol appeared to have called out their Clows yet. There was no sign of Sakura or Syaoran. "I think they know we're here," Meilin heard Fujitaka said. There was an jovial tone to his voice that Meilin did not understand.

Before anyone could say anymore, another storm of arrows started flying towards them. " **Mirror**!" This time, it was Toya's voice who called the name of a Clow. Meilin turned to see his Clow, who was a light-green tinted girl with long flowing hair wearing a hanfu. On her forehead were three blue shapes that gave the appearance of making a triangle. The mirror she held in her hands shone flashed. The arrows that had been heading towards them turned and flew back towards the Reed Clan.

However, a Clow appeared at Eriol's side and he said, " **Erase**." In an instant, the Clow melted into a cloud of grey and covered the air in front of where they were standing. As the arrows entered the cloud, they disappeared as if they had never existed.

"Feimei!" Yelan called out.

"Right," Feimei said from beside Meilin as she, too, called out her Clow. Feimei's Clow appeared like **Rain** and **Cloud** , except that its clothes appeared more like armor. Its hair was in ringlets around its head. " **Storm** ," Feimei said. **Storm** flew up into the sky, as the other two Clows had done. This time a funnel cloud fell from the clouds above as the wind picked up around them. Meilin held up her arms to block her face as the swirling powerful tornado moved its way towards the Reed Clan.

She watched from between her squinted eyelids when another Clow appeared at the older woman's shoulder, this one appearing like a fish made out of ice. " **Freeze** ," the woman said. The fish-like Clow's eyes flashed and **Storm** 's tornado turned into a giant tower of ice.

Eriol smirked as he once again said, " **Erase**." His Clow again became a cloud of gray and covered the tower, causing it to disappear. Meilin growled in frustration, as it seemed that they were getting nowhere in this fight. She had only one question that was pounding inside her head.

Where was Syaoran?

* * *

 

Sakura shuddered as another explosion of sound rocked through the house. "Please, can we go outside?" she pleaded once again to Wolf, who stood leaning up against the wall of his room, staring at the door to the hallway.

"No," Wolf said. His reply was the same as the other five times she had asked. Eriol had come in and ordered Wolf to keep her in their rooms before leaving without so much as an explanation. It had only been a few minutes later that the sounds had started. It sounded like a battle was going on outside. And Sakura had to admit that it was quite possible that there _was_ a battle going on outside. Perhaps her family had come to retrieve her at last.

She glanced sideways at Wolf and pouted out her lips. As much as she liked Wolf now and as much as she knew that there was something she had to do that involved him, she couldn't let anyone in her family get hurt trying to save her. So, she was going to have to take some matters into her own hands. "I'm sorry, Wolf," she murmured.

"What?"

Sakura called out two of her Clows and said, " **Earthy**! **Firey**!" The ground around one wall burst up and down, leaving a gaping hole for Sakura to escape out of. At the same time, a wall of flame burst up between her and Wolf. As fast as she could, she slipped out of the house and starting racing across the yard to the front yard.

She recalled her Clows back as she heard Wolf call her name from still inside the house. She turned the corner to the side of the mansion and heard Wolf say, " **Void**." She glanced back only long enough to see part of a dark sphere of black appear out of the side of the house, right where their rooms were. When it disappeared, it left a gaping hole where everything in the sphere had been. She gasped and began running again, knowing that Wolf would not be far behind her now.

Sakura came around the corner, catching sight of a giant, swirling tower of ice disappearing under a cloud of grey. She stopped and gaped, forgetting for a moment that she was, in fact, running away from Wolf at the moment. She could do no more that glance at the mass of people out on the front lawn before strong arms wrapped around her. "Sakura," she heard Wolf growl in her ear.

"There he is, Auntie!" Sakura heard the unmistakable voice of Meilin cry out, at which point Wolf's arms dropped from around her. "Sakura's with him!" Meilin continued. Sakura looked up and spotted the black-haired girl pointing at where she and Wolf were standing. Sakura saw the rest of her family and the Li Dynasty standing across the lawn. She made to run to them but was stopped by Wolf's grip on her arm. She looked at him, but he only gave the smallest shake of his head, his eyes darkening, before letting go of her arm. Sakura understood that he would stop her from going to them any way that he could.

"Eriol Reed!"

Yelan's voice rang through the battle as she stepped forward. Sakura took a step toward her but was once again stopped by Wolf grabbing her arm in his grip. She turned to demand that he let her go, but something in his gaze, a strong emotion that she could not name, stopped her. Resigned, she turned back to the others to see Eriol holding out his arm, stopping the battle, as he tilted his head to watch her. "Yes?" he inquired, as if asking about the weather.

"You will return my son to me," Yelan said in a very dangerous, threatening tone of voice as she lifted her chin.

Eriol appeared to think about it, but then he said with a smug grin, "I rather think…not." He looked over to where Sakura and Wolf were standing.

And then she could see it—why he had looked so familiar that first day they met. She gasped and couldn't believe that she hadn't recognized the resemblance between him and his sisters. And those eyes...his eyes may have been somewhat darker of a shade, but it was clear that he inherited them from his mother. "You're Syaoran Li," she breathed as she looked at him in wonder.

He flinched almost as if she struck him with her words, taking a few steps back away from her.

" **Time**!"

Kaho's voice rang out strong and clear across the yard. Immediately, a golden sheen flooded around them. Sakura watched everyone but her, Kaho, and Wolf freeze exactly where they were. The Clows hovered over their masters, since the power of **Time** could not affect them. But they did nothing more than hang in the air.

"I'm afraid it will not last long, even though it only affects the area inside the walls," Kaho spoke again. Her lips gave almost the impression that she was smiling, even as her eyes looked sorrowful and apologetic. "There is too much power here. I can only give you a couple of minutes at the most."

"Aunt Kaho…" Sakura murmured. "Why?" she asked, wondering why Kaho seemed to helping her rather than her own husband. After all, Sakura was not frozen along with all the others, who included Eriol Reed.

This time, when her lips curled upwards, Kaho appeared to be truly smiling. "You deserve a better ending," she said cryptically. She nodded at Wolf and Sakura followed her gaze towards the man. His brows furrowed as he glared in Kaho's direction, but as Sakura turned his gaze to him, he moved his eyes to look at her in turn.

"What?" Wolf demanded gruffly.

Sakura tilted her head to the side as she studied him. He stiffened as she walked over to him, closing the small distance that had been between them. Though his expression was blank, Sakura could see in his eyes that he was not nearly as composed as he appeared to be. Not to mention the fact that he kept throwing short glances over to where his and Sakura's families were standing frozen.

"They are your family," Sakura whispered with her brightest smile on her face, hoping that that would reassure him.

Instantly, his expression shut down. "I _have_ no family." That was the moment that Sakura remembered what Kaho had said to her, about a month ago, before Wolf had woken up.

" _Ruby told me that Wolf lost his memories."_

" _He did not lose them."_

" _Wh-what?"_

" _They were taken from him."_

"You don't remember them," Sakura breathed. She wrung her hands together in front of her as she bit her bottom lip. She didn't know what to do now. She wanted to save him, reunite him with his family and restore his memories, but she didn't know if any of those things were possible. But, no… **Dream** had shown her a vision of him and not only of her father that night. She was here now with him for a reason. "Please," she whispered almost inaudibly, not sure who she was saying it to, but wishing with all her might for the power to help him.

Almost immediately, Sakura felt a rushing warm feeling race through her, almost as if her heart had taken flight. Some instinct caused her to reach out, almost in a trance, and place her hand on his chest over his heart. A shock, like static but more powerful, flashed where they touched. Sakura found she could not move even if she wanted to.

Unbidden, her four Clows appeared around her. As one they spoke, but Sakura got the distinct sense that they were not speaking to her. _He is safe now_ , they said.

Wolf—no, _Syaoran_ —stepped back and clutched his shirt in his fist right where Sakura's hand had been. There was a confused and somewhat pained look in his eyes and etched across his face. She couldn't begin to guess what was happening to him because she didn't understand _what_ it was that she did.

Suddenly, his hand dropped back to his side, and his eyes slid closed as his expression realigned itself to neutrality. As his eyes opened again moments later, two Clows—ones Sakura had never seen before—appeared at his sides. They were polar opposites in every way. One had hair and a dress of the deepest black one could imagine and the other of the purest of whites. Before her very eyes, they grew into tall women, almost as tall as Syaoran himself, hovering off the ground. They made beautiful, strikingly imposing figures. But their expressions might as well have been cut from stone as there was no warmth in their smooth planes.

Sakura took a nervous step back as her breath caught. Though she'd seen other Clows the same size as humans, it was still an awe-inspiring sight to see Syaoran's Clows so big. But it was Syaoran's distant vacant expression that had her worried. She wished that she could do the same with her own Clows.

As soon as she had made the wish in her mind, her own Clows grew around her with **Firey** and **Watery** at her sides and **Earthy** and **Windy** behind her. She felt the feathery soft touch of **Windy** as the Clow placed her hand on Sakura's shoulder. _That is **Light** and **Dark** , Mistress, _**Windy** said. _They are the ones who have been protecting his heart—the very core of himself—so that he would not become corrupted in the hands of those who meant him harm._

_Speak our names with the intent to protect you_. These words came urgently from **Firey** on her right.

"You think he will attack me?" Sakura asked.

_It is uncertain at this point what he will do_ , **Earthy** said.

"You won't hurt him?"

_As you will_ , **Firey** replied.

Drawing a deep breath, Sakura spoke the names of her Clows, so that they could use their powers. As she did so, she poured her will into thinking, _Protect us, but do not harm Syaoran._

A strangled cry came from across the lawn and the golden sheen to the world shrunk back to its origin. Sakura looked over and cried out, "Aunt Kaho!" as the woman slide to the ground.

Now that everyone was no longer stopped by **Time** , Sakura knew they would resume their battle, but they all seemed to notice Sakura, Syaoran, and their Clows standing across from each other almost at the same moment. For the first time, Eriol looked actually surprised. "What—how?" His eyes took a look of realization as he turned to look on his fallen wife. "Kaho!" he cried as he raced to kneel by her side. "Why?"

Sakura did not hear her reply as she turned to look at Syaoran as he spoke. "Why?" he echoed Eriol's question. His expression had become confused and pained again with something almost like panic added in. "Why?" he repeated.

"Syaoran, let me help you," Sakura said as she held out her hand to him with a smile.

"Sakura," he whispered and, for a moment, when he started to lift his hand toward her, she thought he was going to calm down and come to her. But then **Void** appeared behind his head. Her expression was still sorrowful, but now there was a mixture of anger and malice as she looked at Sakura. Syaoran froze, but **Light** and **Dark** lost their stony appearance and looked alarmed as they stared at **Void**.

Sakura realized that **Void** must be speaking to Syaoran and whatever she was saying wasn't good. "Syaoran, no!" she cried out.

But before she could say any more, Syaoran's expression hardened and he said, " **Light**. **Dark**."


	12. Impacted Explanations

Bound to serve their master, **Light** and **Dark** turned grim-faced to Sakura. Panic fluttered in her chest as she took a few more steps back. In a instant, **Windy** and **Earthy** came over her head and her four Clows formed a wall in front of her, no doubt to protect her. **Light** and **Dark** moved to close ranks in front of Syaoran as well. They stood still like that, ten or so feet apart from each other, staring at each other in silence for but a moment. Then, **Light** and **Dark** swirled their hands in front of themselves, creating balls of energy—one each of light and darkness. They turned only to merge their energy together. The Elemental Clows formed their own mass of energy that swirled with the four colors of their elements. As **Light** and **Dark** threw the energy at her, Sakura's Clows sent theirs hurtling towards where Syaoran.

As the two orbs of energy collided in mid-air, they caused a massive explosion that created an impressive impact. It threw Sakura back clear off her feet and flung her back through the air. She landed on her back, sliding back another few feet on the ground with her momentum. She gasped for breath, the air knocked from her lungs. She lay there as her vision blurred and spotted from her head hitting against the ground. She could hear her family calling her name and other voices yelling things that she couldn't quite make out, but she thought she heard Syaoran's name in the midst of them. She was more aware of the pain in her chest and back as she tried to breathe. Her whole entire body felt like it was on fire from the plethora of injuries she was sure to have obtained. Not to mention that it felt like the back of her shirt was being held together by the barest of rags.

Through her pains, she realized that the sounds of voices and running feet were getting louder and closer. So, quicker than she should have, she rolled onto her stomach. Her limbs shook as she pushed herself to her hands and knees. Looking up through the dust the explosion had raised, she saw her father and brother running to her, but she called to them, "No, stay back! I'm fine." She knew that it was far too dangerous for anyone else to get any closer to Syaoran in his current state. It was dangerous even for her (as evident by her condition), but at least she had the four Clows whose power could stand up to him with her.

But they did not stop, though they did slow down a little. "Sakura," Toya began to say as his face locked into an angry expression. Her father looked worried but almost more inclined to do what Sakura asked. She could also see the rest of her family back on the other side of the yard, standing with Syaoran's sisters.

But there was one other figure that was approaching across the yard as well, though she was further away from Sakura than either Toya or Fujitaka. "Do as she says," Yelan said, her tone so sharp, actually causing the two men to stop for a moment, almost twenty or thirty feet away from her. Almost as if to punctuate her words, another explosion, though not as large as the last one, rocked the yard. Sakura ducked down and covered her head with her hands. Nothing hit her, and she peeked over to see that the Clows were still battling in out between her and Syaoran. There was a large hole in the middle between them from that first large explosion but smaller holes punctured the ground. Even as she watched, **Earthy** was pulling a chunk of earth from the ground and sending it hurtling toward **Dark**. They appeared to be completely unaffected by the massive explosion even though they had been closer to it than anyone else.

"I'm not leaving my sister to face that menace!" she heard Toya exclaimed. As she looked back in that direction, he started to move towards Sakura again, only Fujitaka him stopped with hand on his arm. "Dad?" he asked in disbelief at his father who had almost a strange, reassuring smile on his face.

But it was Yelan again who spoke in answer. "She is the only one that can end this," she said as she finally came level with the two men. She gestured out to the battlefield as she continued, "For any of us to step in now would be suicide. Only the Elementals have enough power to stand up to the Attributes."

Toya looked torn for a moment, glancing to Fujitaka, then Yelan, and finally Sakura. His shoulders slumped down to show his acquiesce as he gave a slow nod. "Sakura, be careful!" he yelled out. Not looking happy about it, he allowed Fujitaka lead him away from Sakura and Syaoran back to the rest of the group. The rest stood a safe distance away from the battling Clows.

Despite all her words, it was Yelan who remained standing in her place a moment longer. She glanced over to the other side of the battlefield-where Syaoran was before looking back at Sakura. "Please save my son," she said almost too quietly for Sakura to hear before also retreating back to her family.

Sakura took a deep breath before she looked over at where Syaoran was. She found that he had been knocked down by the force of the explosion as well. They were farther apart from each now than they had been in three weeks. Syaoran seemed to have recovered as Sakura had spoken to the others as he was sitting up at the moment, rubbing his right arm. It was only another second before he got to his feet, looking far better off than she felt. She couldn't quite read his expression from this far away and due to the fact that all the dust had not quite settled yet. (Nor was it likely to until the Clows stopped battling as their continued attacks at each other continued to stir it up again). So, she could not even begin to guess what he was thinking, though she had never been able to before. But this past week…she had thought she had been starting to get through to him.

Shaking her head (and instantly regretting it because it hurt), Sakura managed to push up to herself back onto her knees as she felt the back of her head. It was tender to the touch but not bleeding. She felt like she had a million scrapes and bruises but nothing felt like it was broken. She could see that her clothes had some rips in them now, though it felt like the back of her shirt had the worst of it. As she looked back at Syaoran, she could see that his clothes were in a not much better state. Even though she couldn't see them, she was sure he had as many scrapes and bruises as her. Well, maybe not quite as many as he was better trained for this sort of fight. The only one she could see was a thin red line along his left cheek.

Mustering herself, she shakily got to her feet, swaying as she regained her balance. She took a deep breath as she closed her eyes, placing her clasped hands to her chest. She opened her eyes and, in a determined tone she repeated the special mantra that she'd had ever since she was a child. "Everything will surely be all right." As she looked up, **Firey** was sending a small torrent of fireballs towards Syaoran. They were stopped when **Light** created a screen of white light to block it. They bounced of the shield and fell to the ground. What little foliage was left on the ground, caught fire where they hit, but **Watery** was there causing a flood of water to douse whatever was aflame. "Don't hurt him!" she called out alarmed, reinforcing her will on her Clows.

_We shall try_ , came **Watery** 's terse reply, sounding strained. She left her completed task of putting out the fires and combined her powers with **Windy** to try and bind **Dark** in a swirling mass of water and air. **Dark** dispersed the entire thing with a shaft of darkness. Sakura watched the Clows struggling against each other for a moment before she realized that she couldn't win against them. Her Clows were only on the defensive for the most part, as they were retaliating attacks from **Light** and **Dark** and never trying to press their advantage.

Syaoran. She looked at the man that, for all she could see, had not moved since coming to his feet. As near as she could tell, he watched the battle as impassive as **Void,** who still hung behind him. It all came down to stopping _him_ rather than his Clows. While her Elementals could hold off his Attributes as long as she had the energy to supply them, if he used **Void** , she didn't know if she could stop that. She hadn't ever seen it used except for when he used it to chase after her, but she'd heard exactly what the Clow was capable of. Syaoran had used it before to cause people to no longer exist, and she wasn't positive if he could use it on other Clows or not. But she had to come up with a way to stop him _without_ harming him.

She remembered that her Clows seemed to know more about what was going on than she did. They were the ones who helped to release **Light** and **Dark** in the first place. And **Windy** always seemed to have answers, even if she didn't state them quite as simple as Sakura would have liked sometimes. "How can we help him?" Sakura called to her Clows.

_The power is in you_ , **Earthy** said. A beam of black raced towards Sakura but was stopped by the ground flying up and creating a wall in front of her. She turned her head away as the dirt exploded around her, but other than more dirt streaks on her clothes, she was unharmed from that blast.

After coughing in the dust, she yelled out in frustration, "But what does that mean?" They had already told her that, but she needed to be able to reach that power. Now.

But she had no idea _how_.

_Shortly after both of you were born, you were connected to each other. We, along with Syaoran Li's Attributes, intertwined your destinies infinitely together for a purpose you could only accomplish together_ , **Windy** explained, giving more or less a straight answer, for once.

But not one Sakura was expecting.

Her eyes went wide when she heard that. She hadn't even known something like that was possible. It did make her wonder if the connection between them was the reason that she had always felt so safe and content around him. Even when he had given her plenty of reasons not to. If this intertwining of their destinies was why she had felt so determined to save him. There was much she wanted to ask—like how had they connected them—but what she asked now was, "What purpose?"

_To reunite the Clows_ , **Earthy** said, short and to the point as always.

**Windy** decided to expand on that before Sakura even had to ask. _Once the three families were one. United in the pursuit of using their Clows to better the world, as we had been entrusted to them to do by our creator, Clow Reed. But as time has passed, as Clow Reed had foreseen, they grew apart and each lost has lost their sight._

She had to stop speaking for a moment as she blew some of **Light** 's missiles away from Sakura. They blew away at the Reed Manor where they burst against the side of the house, blowing in the walls where they hit. Sakura cringed, hoping that everyone that had been left in the house was in a safe place. **Windy** continued her explanation. _We had been given instructions on what to do when this happened and so waited a long time for you two to be born. As Clow Reed had predicted, we Elementals and the Attributes existed in this world at the same time, as we had not since we were under his care. At last, as he told us to do, we could help you bring forth the Final Clow._

She started at that—was there actually another Clow other than the forty that they knew? If Clow Reed had made another Clow before he died, he hadn't made any record of it that Sakura knew of. She would have learned about it from her grandfather or Tomoyo before now. Then she remembered her previous conversation with **Windy** and what the Clow had told her then. "The one who was waiting for us, right?" Sakura asked. If there was a special Final Clow that had been waiting for her and Syaoran, then perhaps Clow Reed had not told anyone but the other Clows about it to keep it safe.

_Correct_ , **Earthy** answered.

_Since its power is great, as a safeguard, Clow Reed made it so that it can only be used by two hearts as one_ , **Firey** put in.

**Windy** , the one who had always spoken the most, continued, _But Syaoran Li's half was awakened too early by Eriol Reed. Though we felt it happen, we could do nothing to stop it as both of you were too far apart from each other and far too young. And **Light** and **Dark** were in their self-imposed deep slumber to protect him and themselves from the madness of Eriol Reed. She must have been so hurt and confused to lash out with her power so violently._

Sakura looked over to where Syaoran was standing and the Clow that hovered above his head. " **Void** ," she breathed, understanding that she must have been the half that they were talking about. Her eyes lit up as she realized _why_ they were always telling her that the power was in her to save him. **Void** had been only _half_ of the Final Clow, and she must have been residing _inside_ Syaoran to be called out by him. Bouncing on her feet, she realized, "So my half is still—"

_Asleep within you, yes_ , **Watery** confirmed her thoughts.

_We believe you can awaken it now. We felt it stirring when you helped to release **Light** and **Dark**_ , **Windy** said.

_Together, you and Syaoran can bring the families as one again_ , **Firey** said. _We don't exactly enjoy fighting each other._

_And the final wish of Clow Reed will be fulfilled_ , **Earthy** said.

"To unite the families again," Sakura whispered. She felt rather than heard the agreement of her Clows. She had to bring out her half of the Final Clow, but she had no idea how to do that. She had only ever felt it stir when she was around Syaoran. She gasped as she realized exactly what she had to do. All she had to do was _get to Syaoran_. But then she surveyed the battlefield and the wide space that lay between her and reaching that goal. To get to him, she would have run across it and hope that her Clows could protect her from the attacking Attributes. Not to mention that her body was still sore and hurt from hitting the ground at the beginning of the battle. But it was the only way.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them, she steeled herself and said, "All right. I know what to do."

_We are with you, Mistress._

Sakura began to run across the battlefield, all her aches and pains flaring up at once as she did so. Gritting her teeth, she continued on through the pain, knowing that her only chance to end this whole thing lay in reaching Syaoran. Her Clows flew around and above her. They deflected attacks from the Attributes as she made her way to Syaoran, trying to remember the feeling she'd had when she placed her hand on Syaoran's chest. Syaoran saw her coming and she saw his shock as she took a flying leap at him, wrapping her arms around him as she knocked both of them to the ground. After a moment, Syaoran pushed them up into a sitting position, but, to her surprise, he did not push her away.

Still, Sakura did not loosen her hold, struggling to put a name to the feeling rushing within her. She had felt it before and it had only grown stronger the more time she had spent with him. But then, suddenly, she knew exactly what it was as she listened to Syaoran's pounding heartbeat against her cheek.

It was so…simple.

How could she not have seen it?

She pulled away from him to look up in his eyes. His expression was blank, but his eyes were stirring with emotion. There was a battle struggling within him that much she could see. She looked up briefly at **Void** before returning her gaze back to Syaoran. Slowly, she reached her arms up and wrapped them around the back of his head. "I love you, Syaoran," she whispered. He stilled in her arms, eyes widening in surprise, but he said nothing in reply. So, not exactly knowing why she said it, she whispered, "Please remember."

Then, she pulled his lips down to hers.


	13. Hope

She hadn't expected him to return her kiss. Nor had she meant for it to last for more than a moment, but Syaoran surprised her on both accounts. He didn't respond at all at first, but the moment Sakura began to pull away, Syaoran wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him again. In the back of her mind, she was aware that the sounds of their Clows fighting behind them had ceased. Syaoran's will to attack her must have stopped. It was an amateur kiss, not awkward, but nothing more pressing their lips together. Not that she expected much more, seeing as she didn't have _that_ much experience in the area. And it was unlikely Syaoran did, either, all things considered. He had been an emotionless shell until today and all. But, despite the innocence of it or maybe because of it, she felt a rushing feeling of warmth that she knew was from the fact that she was _kissing_ Syaoran, yet there was something else about it. Something was awakening inside her, she could feel it, though she could not put a name to it.

The kiss lasted only a short while before they pulled back from each other. Syaoran did not open his eyes as he rested his forehead against hers and whispered, "Sakura…I…" But he said no more after that. Sakura tried to stifle the disappointment that welled up inside her. She hadn't exactly been expecting him to return her sentiments. He'd gotten his whole self back moments ago, and she could only imagine the overwhelming conflict that was causing in him. But it was hard for her not to hear him say those words back to her.

They stayed that way for a moment in silence before Syaoran leaned back from her, opened his eyes, and looked up into the air above them. Sakura followed his gaze and saw **Void** hovering above Syaoran. There was no malice in her gaze now, only melancholic sorrow but with some confusion. And finally, Sakura noticed that something else was hovering above her head. A scarlet heart with radiant white wings and a crown above it hung over her. "My half," she whispered as she understood what it was, remembering what her Clows had said. "Be complete," she continued still speaking in a whisper but now looking at **Void** again.

The nameless heart Clow floated over to **Void** , who watched it with wary eyes as it approached. As it stopped before her, **Void** reached out, yet flinched back. Another moment passed before she reached out again and placed her small hand against it. The moment they touched, **Void** 's face blossomed into an expression of the purest joy. Everything about her that had once been drab and dreary became at once vibrant and brilliant. **_Hope_** , a beautiful young voice spoke in Sakura's mind in a tone of unabashed happiness. _I am **Hope**!_

Sakura knew immediately the voice belonged to the Clow that was once, but no longer, **Void**.

_Thank you for saving our master, Sakura._ Two voices spoke to her at the same time, and they were similar but different. As the voices spoke, she found **Light** and **Dark,** back in their normal diminutive size, coming to hover next to Syaoran. This time they were smiling at her in calm serenity. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw her own Clows, who were also back to normal, coming to hover at her side as well. They, too, had smiles upon their faces, even the stoic **Earthy**.

Realizing that it had been **Light** and **Dark** who had spoken to her, she was taken aback. She had never before heard of Clows speaking to anyone other than their own master. She asked, "How—"

But they answered her question before she could even finished asking it when one of them (she did not and could not discern which) spoke again. _Now that **Hope** is complete and your connection to Master restored to full strength, we can speak with you._

_As we can now speak to Syaoran,_ **Windy** added.

She felt Syaoran jolt, since they hadn't moved away from each other yet, and turned her gaze to look at him. He was frowning and gazing at the ground. At first, she thought he was surprised that her Clows could speak to him, like she had been about his Clows. But then she thought she saw something closer to panic rather than shock in his eyes. She reached out to place her hand on his shoulder but stopped halfway there. She pulled her hand back to her chest. "What is it?" she asked, trying to lean in to see his face.

"It's nothing," he said as he averted his gaze to the side.

Huffing, she filled her cheeks with air as she frowned. He looked at her and looked startled at her angry display. Sakura knew this was with good reason. The only time she'd been angry when they'd been together had been that whole water cup incident when he woke up. Realizing that this evasiveness of Syaoran's was going to become a common occurrence for them for the next while as he tried to reconcile himself back together, she breathed out to calm herself. Changing her voice to a low and gentle tone, "Syaoran…"

He frowned and shook his head at her as he said, "It's just…nothing."

"Tell me, Syaoran!" she pleaded. She wanted so much to be able to help him, but if he wasn't going to tell her what was wrong, she had no idea how. Not for the first time, she wished she had Tomoyo's ability to almost read minds.

"I don't remember being Syaoran!" he burst out. Immediately, he looked almost ashamed of his outburst as his face flushed red and he dropped his gaze again. Sakura's eyes widened as she leaned back away from him startled both by his outburst and what he said. "I don't remember…" He trailed off, his voice almost broken.

"Eriol took your memories," Sakura realized, remembering once again back to the conversation she had with Kaho. She'd wondered how it was possible that someone could have taken his memories. But now that she'd seen Eriol use his Clow **Erase** in the fight, she realized that that was what Kaho had meant when she said someone who was desperate to protect his family had taken them. Eriol would have seen Syaoran as a threat, since he'd been born with two of the most powerful Clows in existence. It was no secret that the Reed Clan and the Li Dynasty held each other in animosity. Sakura and the Elementals were protected in their anonymity. None of the families had known she existed or where her parents had run off to before Sakura and Tomoyo had met. But…perhaps there was a way to get them back.

Sakura looked up at the Final Clow, who still hovered above them, smiling down at them in patient happiness. She wasn't sure, but given that her name _was_ **Hope** , she had an idea of what the Clow could do. But to be sure, she looked at **Windy** and asked her, "What can **Hope** do?"

**Windy** almost looked surprised at the question as she answered. _I would have thought that would have been obvious. As long as your heart and will is aligned with Syaoran's own, she can do whatever you hope for her to do._

_Because even at the bleakest hour, there is always hope_ , one of Syaoran's Clows said. Sakura thought it might have been **Dark** as the voice was a bit deeper.

_However, she was created for peace and has an inherent goodness so can only be used as such._ This time Sakura was sure that it had been **Light** who had spoken.

_We suggest you wait to bring the three families together again until your energy from our fight has been restored,_ **Firey** said. With that, all the Clows, with the exception of **Hope** , disappeared.

Sakura looked at Syaoran, who was still in that perpetual haze of confusion. Sakura pushed herself back up to her feet, pulling Syaoran up with her. Sakura did not let go of his hands even Syaoran loosened his grip to let them drop. He tilted his head but remained silent. She kept her gaze on him as she asked the Clow beside them, " **Hope** , could you restore Syaoran's memories?"

**Hope** gave a little giggle before answering, _If you both want me to._

Syaoran's eyes widened as he looked at **Hope** , before looking at Sakura again. Sakura bit her bottom lip, as she asked, "Will it…do we have enough energy left?" She knew she felt tired, which meant that her magical stores must be low. Given how the Attributes had given blow for blow with her Elementals, Syaoran had to be the same.

_Yes. You have the strength left._

Syaoran forced their hands apart as he stepped back. Sakura looked at him startled but his gaze was averted. Before she could ask what was wrong, he asked, his tone quiet and so uncertain, "Sakura, what if I don't want to be Syaoran?" He sounded small and hesitant in that moment.

Sakura beamed at him and reached out to touch his cheek, to pull his gaze back to her. Once sure she has his attention, she said, "You have a mother who loves you so much she almost died herself when you did. You have four sisters who adore you and a cousin who thinks you are the whole world. I only spent a few days with them, but I could see how much they love you." She let her hand drop from his face but only to intertwine her fingers with his again. "And you'll have me with you regardless. Forever." She paused a moment before she implored, "Let me give them back to you."

He gave one slow nod a moment later. So, Sakura stepped even closer to him, and they gazed into each other’s eyes. Sakura concentrated on what she wanted **Hope** to do. At the same moment, the two of them spoke and said, " **Hope**."

**Hope** laughed in their minds and began to shine. Sakura kept her gaze locked on Syaoran, so she saw him the moment when **Hope** 's light faded.

She saw the moment when Syaoran smiled.

It took her breath away, the amount of difference it made on his features. It wasn't a wide smile. It was nothing more than a small upturning of his lips. But it lit up his face and made him seem so much lighter, as if a burden he had been carrying with him was lifted. **Hope** 's laughter flitted around them once more. _I'll be here when you're ready_ , she said before she disappeared, leaving Sakura and Syaoran alone.

* * *

 

"Sakura, I—" Syaoran began to say but he was interrupted by a flying mound of black hair as someone slammed into his side. Unlike when Sakura did it earlier, this time he was only pushed to the side a few steps, but it was still enough for him to lose his grip on Sakura. "What…" he started to ask until a pair of familiar red eyes turned their gaze up to him. Memories that might not have been so clear if they hadn't been returned to him moments before flashed through him. "Meilin?" he asked.

At which point, Meilin promptly called out his name, burst into tears, and buried her face in his chest again. "Meilin!" he called out surprised. He never knew what to do when she cried.

"Sakura!"

Syaoran watched as more people began to approach. Those that gathered around Sakura, he only recognized from the battle earlier. The other five women passed them and came closer to him and Meilin. These five women looked more familiar. He found himself imposing their younger images from his memories over their appearance now. They were his mother and his sisters.

Seventeen years was a long, long time.

Meilin finally let up and stepped away from him, wiping the tears away from her cheeks. And where he once might have been able to console her tears, he no longer knew what were the right words to say to her. He didn't think he'd ever felt so confused and lost in his life. The only thing that made sense at the moment was Sakura, but she was still in the midst of her own family. He didn't have the right to tear her away from them for his own selfish reasons.

So, he turned to face the rest of his own family. His mother looked as regal and composed as he remembered. He'd been in awe of her when he was younger and wanted to be able to command the same air of respect she did without effort. His sisters were a little different in that their boundless energy seemed more controlled. Not one of them seemed to want to be the first to move. Syaoran knew he would have to be the one to make the first move. They would be afraid that to say or do the wrong thing would be to lose him all over again. He realized this, but still he didn't know how to tell them that he was okay letting them back into his life.

"I…" he started to say before stopping again. Conflicting emotions, a lifetime of instilled hatred versus memories of unconditional love, clashed against each other. He thought he might have been about to apologize, but he knew everything hadn't exactly been his fault. He looked over to find Sakura, still surrounded by her family, though they had turned to watch what his family was doing. His eyes locked with Sakura. She smiled at him as she gave him a slight nod of encouragement.

Bolstered by her feelings, Syaoran looked at his mother and stepped toward her. She stiffened as he took the few steps to reach her. Standing before her, he said the only word he could think of to let her know what he wanted.

"Mother."

And Yelan smiled at him, causing his own lips to curl upwards. Then she wrapped her arms around him, and he heard her murmur, "Syaoran, _my_ Syaoran." Instinctively, he stiffened at her touch, but it only took moments for her feelings of relief and love to flood through him. Bit by bit, he allowed himself to relax in her arms. Her arms tightened a bit more as he did so.

Almost as one, he heard his sisters begin to laugh and squeal. Yelan stepped back away from him as his sisters accosted him from all sides. Syaoran found himself at peace for a minute, reveling in the familiarity of it all. Shiefa ran her fingers through his hair as she'd always loved to do. The twins, Fanren and Fuutie, hung on either side of him, gripping his arms as if he might disappear at any moment. Feimei, his closest sister who'd always been the one who took care of him the most, straightened his shirt, despite it being an almost useless gesture as the shirt itself was ruined beyond all hope.

Despite the separation and the time it would take to heal from everything that had happened to him, _this_ was his family. Where he once might have tried to throw them off in annoyance, he pushed away the feeling of discomfort that arose. He allowed them in, knowing and able to actually _feel_ the joy that his presence was giving them, even as the confliction returned inside himself.

But at the very moment when he thought he would not be able to take anymore, Yelan said, "Enough." Obediently, his sisters stepped away from him, and he couldn't help letting out a breath of relief.

He knew she was there before she snuck her hand into his own. "Come meet my family," she said. Knowing that she was trying to get him to a sense of normalcy in his new overwhelming world, he allowed her to pull him closer to the other group. He listened in silence as she introduced them all. Though things were starting to fall into place more and more each minute, he still had lingering feelings of confusion and a sense of being lost.

"Where is Uncle Eriol?" Sakura asked.

Syaoran jolted slight at the sound of that name. He was unsure what he was supposed to feel when Fujitaka informed Sakura that the Reed Clan had vanished. The man had kidnapped him, and he'd never had any real affection for any of them. Still, they were the only people he had known.

"Good riddance," Sonomi said with distaste.

"Oh, no," Sakura said and Syaoran was sure that he was not the only one surprised by the depth of emotion in her voice. "Aunt Kaho said…he was so hurt and desperate."

"Sakura?" Nadeshiko asked gently.

Suddenly, she shook her head. "Never mind," she murmured.

"Let's go home," Yelan said.

Syaoran's hand gave Sakura's a sudden tight squeeze, as the thought of being separated from her flashed in his mind. She smiled up at him with reassurance and said, "I meant what I said. I'm not leaving you."

Syaoran wondered at how she could understand him so well, especially since he hardly understood himself yet. Not to mention that she was the source of much of his confusion. He remembered vividly her confession of love for him, and he wanted to be able to answer her, but he _did not know_ if he felt the same for her.


End file.
